RIA Brexit Taskforce

Royal Irish Academy Brexit related Policy Papers, Submissions and Statements of Interest

• RIA Taskforce Northern Ireland report, Higher Education and Research in Northern Ireland Post-Brexit, November 2017.
• RIA Brexit Taskforce Island of Ireland report, Research and Higher Educationon the Island of Ireland after Brexit, November 2017.
• RIA Brexit Taskforce factsheet, Ireland-UK Higher-Education and Research Connections, October 2017.
• RIA/British Academy Brexit briefing paper, Professor Mary E Daly, MRIA Brexit and the Irish Border: Historical Context, October 2017.
• RIA/British Academy Brexit briefing paper, Professor Gordon Anthony, QUB Legal and Political Questions, October 2017.
• RIA/British Academy Brexit briefing paper, Professor Chris McCrudden, FBA The Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and Rights, October 2017.
• RIA/British Academy Brexit briefing paper, Professor Imelda Maher, MRIA Common Travel Area: More Than Just Travel, October 2017.
• RIA Joint Statement with UK Academies, Brexit Negotiations and Exit within these Islands, 2nd August 2017.
• Royal Irish Academy Brexit Taskforce Survey Results, Impacts and Opportunities for Higher Education and Research on the Island of Ireland post Brexit, June 2017.
• RIA Joint Statement with UK Academies: Higher Education, Research and Innovation: After Triggering Article 50, 29 March 2017.
• RIA Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology Inquiry: Leaving the EU: implications and opportunities for science and research, 22 August 2016.
• Joint Statement by the Royal Irish Academy and the UK Academies, Research and Innovation: After the EU Referendum, July 2016
• RIA Advice Paper on the Sustainability of the Northern Ireland Higher Education Sector,  - April 2016
• Joint Royal Irish Academy – British Academy Roundtable on: The UK and Ireland – The UK’s referendum on EU Membership: The Implications for Northern Ireland’s Higher Education Sector, March 2016
• RIA Advice Paper on the Future Funding of Higher Education in Ireland, January 2016

Royal Irish Academy is Ireland's leading body of experts in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It represents Irish scholarship and research internationally and works closely with global academic and research networks including the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Higher education and research are key drivers for future growth and prosperity on the island of Ireland. 'The UK's exit from the European Union raises questions as to the long-term consequences for European co-operation in research generally, but particularly so for Ireland (North and South) and Britain, given our historic and mutually beneficial traditions of academic and research mobility, collaboration and co-operation. Following the UK withdrawal from the EU, the Royal Irish Academy, as-all island body, will be unique in representing an academic community which straddles the EU land border.

In response to this the Academy has established a high-level Brexit Taskforce to consider how the higher education sector can best address the implications of the UK’s exit from the EU and identify potential sector strategic priorities for Ireland’s Brexit negotiators.  The Taskforce is divided into two working groups to consider the implications of Brexit on the Irish and Northern Irish higher education systems.

The taskforce will deliver an agreed action plan which will consider how the higher education sectors in Ireland and Northern Ireland can best address the implications of the UK’s exit from the EU.