The official launch of EUA’s ‘Quality Review of Irish Universities’ took place in Dublin on 25 April in the presence of Mary Hanafin TD, Irish Minister for Education and Science. EUA completed the quality review of all seven Irish universities at the joint request of the Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB) and the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The reviews, which focused on the universities’ internal quality arrangements, demonstrated that they have developed a robust internal quality system using a grassroots approach which involves all departments and service units across each university.

The Irish quality system – which was established by all seven universities through the IUQB – strikes the right tone and combines successfully attention to the public interest and institutional autonomy. The system was evaluated as being more effective in terms of a focus on quality than other systems, without being intrusive. Significantly, the Irish universities have established on each campus an open space for “quality deliberation” which are already yielding important results and hold great promise for the future. These reviews have shown that while measurements of quality in higher education are difficult, major change occurs in institutions that are open to dialogue and discussions and stress an improvement (rather than a punitive) orientation. These processes lead to a commitment to improving quality and to the empowerment of all actors in a university.

The report from the EUA review and other related documents are available on the IUQB website.