Today’s stunning Brexit decision leaves Northern Ireland not only in the same uncertain state as the rest of the UK, but with added speculation about everything from an enforced border to a referendum on Irish reunification.
There is not much known about the future of UK students, whether it be their erasmus opportunities or the fee levels they would pay when studying abroad. For Northern students, their relationship to Ireland is likely to fundamentally change.
Northern Irish students studying in Trinity now face a situation in which, despite currently living and studying in an EU-country, their home will not, barring huge political upheaval, be a member of the EU in two years time. While the majority of voters in the North elected to remain as part of the EU, and the vast majority of young people across the UK appeared to do the same, this was not enough to affect the final result.
In Trinity, despite the historical ties and current free levels of movement between North and South, and despite the Provost’s goal to be an island “a university for the whole island of Ireland”, there is very real potential that Northern Irish students may end up paying the much-higher non-EU fee rate when choosing to cross the border.
“Breathing space” in Trinity, but Only Temporarily
“
As a young remain voter in South Belfast (a remain heartland), I feel pretty dejected today. The leave voters in Sunderland, Wolverhampton and Basildon are miles away from an EU-dependent North and I feel like Northern Ireland’s decision to remain will not be respected. As Fintan O’Toole has argued, this referendum has felt distinctly English, and in the North we have so many connections to Europe that these eurosceptic regions do not. To be honest, I am quite relieved to be in education in Dublin for another year as it gives me breathing space to plan out what I want to do next while I watch this idiocy unfold. In the short term, the biggest problem for Northern Irish students is the exchange rate: our student finance is in sterling, so a weak pound pushes our rent up and leaves us with less money. Plans to do masters in Belfast might also have to be put on hold until I have a better idea of what will happen. However, it is my little sister I really feel for, who, in two months, will go to study in the leave heartlands of Yorkshire. She’s going to miss so many opportunities taken for granted by us, such as the chance to take an Erasmus year or internship abroad.
—
Aaron Luke Meredith, third-year English literature and philosophy
European Passport, but Fewer European Opportunities
“
In terms of education for Northern Irish students (and British students in general), the EU opened a lot of doors and opportunities that would otherwise not be feasible. In the most obvious sense, the inability of the Irish government to discriminate against EU students in terms of fees enabled Northern Irish and other UK students to study in Ireland without massive financial difficulties. Yet, once the UK leaves, this will not apply, thereby producing vast uncertainty for UK students wanting to, and indeed currently studying in, Ireland. Furthermore, it will make the Provost’s plan to attract more Northern Irish students potentially more difficult. As for myself, Brexit simply adds urgency to my application for an Irish passport in order to avoid potential changes in fees and to ensure I still have a European passport, but it does make it less likely that I would want to live or study in the UK after my undergraduate.
In terms of Northern Ireland’s vote in this referendum, it was a fascinating picture: by massive margins, those from the nationalist community supported remain, but they failed to show up in large numbers, as reflected in how turnout in West Belfast was lower than in the Stormont election in May. Meanwhile, the unionist community did show up in larger numbers, but they were evenly split, which led to an overall result of 56 per cent remain in Northern Ireland. This referendum, with its result of dragging Scotland and Northern Ireland out of the EU, will have huge constitutional ramifications in the UK, most obviously by perhaps making Scotland leave, but also by making Irish unity an active and very important political cleavage once again. As such, for education and Northern Ireland Brexit means uncertainty, with very few silver linings.
—
Samuel Johnson, third-year PPES
Further Ostracisation for Northern Students
“
Northern Ireland leaving the EU against its will will have a huge effect on students at college in Trinity. Northern Irish students already feel unwelcome in southern universities in many ways, for example the higher grades for entry to the same courses. Following this morning’s result, Northern Irish students will likely face border checks while travelling to university, and some might require a visa. They will likely have greatly increased fees, face ostracisation from peers, and have much lower chances of employment in the Republic after graduation.
—
Aoibheann Ní Lochlainn, third-year medicine and incoming Welfare Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union
No EU Support, But Still Divided
“
Waking up this morning at 6am to a country that had voted to leave the EU was a pretty unpleasant, to say the least. The North has benefitted from large amounts of EU funding to support the peace process since 1995. A planned shared educational campus in my town, Omagh, might have received some of this EU funding. In a post-Brexit world, it’ll have to source funding from elsewhere.
There used to be the old joke that Northern Ireland was 30 years behind the rest of the UK. Today, the older generation of the UK, those who voted predominantly to leave, proved that they’re just as stuck in the halcyon days of Britain’s past as the residents of Northern Ireland.
Unlike Scotland, however, independence is not an option for Northern Ireland. A united Ireland looks unlikely too. I doubt anyone in Leinster House is gleeful at the thought of the North trying to patch things back up with the South. We even managed to turn the referendum sectarian. Foyle, predominantly Catholic, voted 78.3 per cent remain. Protestant Belfast East voted leave. With a turnout of 48.9 per cent, the residents of West Belfast just didn’t seem to care.
I feel I’m luckier. Living in Dublin, studying in Trinity, maybe I’ll be more immune from the post-Brexit fallout. But my friends studying in Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University are concerned. The last message I got from a friend of mine? “And Northern Ireland was going so so well…”
—
Dominic McGrath, third-year law and politics and News Editor of The University Times
Once Again in Northern Ireland, Nationalism Dominates
“
Growing up in a Catholic Nationalist area of Antrim, the prospect of a united Ireland always seemed like the eventual best option for the North. But not like this. Not as a sorry afterthought of British xenophobia, grasping at whatever straws available to be heard.
Scrolling through Facebook, among people mourning the loss of our EU inclusion and jokes about getting an Irish passport, what stood out most was people from the nearest town, excitedly talking about the return of the “glory days of Great Britain”, and cheering on stories of “the greatest generation” making it out to cast their leaving vote.
The loss of all the benefits we had in the EU is really hard to stomach, but what I find worse is the blind nationalism of people my own age, eager to sit back and allow people who will not be around to deal with the results dictate what their future should be.
—
Raif Meyer, third-year law
An Uncertain Future
“
As a law and business student in my early twenties, I can now safely say that I don’t know what the future holds for me in any terms. As someone with two nationalities, one in and one now out of the EU, I must now make a choice – a choice further complicated by living under one of these nationalities and studying under another. This is difficult to write as no one can safely say what might happen next. This coming year, I aim, like many others, to apply for a life-changing internship, previously most likely in the UK – otherwise potentially restricting myself to a future in Ireland. This has always been the goal for myself and others, yet now I question the future implications of this. What standing will a country outside the EU have by the time I’m beginning my career, and how far will Britain have sunk by then? The decision made about my future was made against my will, and now the UK must prepare for the ultimate brain-drain before the official partition, by which time the majority of the “leave” voters will be in nursing homes, or have passed on.
The choice of Britain to leave affects greatly my future relationships with family, friends and partners. I feel like I have been forced from where I live, left unsure as to where to go. Ireland is so small and the population is now set to rise, but I don’t consider the UK’s current state of uncertainty as an option. As awful as this is for all of us involved, it still doesn’t mean that life for those left behind in the UK will be any better. Friends identifying as Irish while living in Northern Ireland and studying in Great Britain fear further implications. This upcoming year is worth half of my degree, and yet it will be overshadowed with crippling doubt and fear for everything I have worked so hard for.
—
Clara King, third-year law and business
Realities Must be Accepted by Both Sides
“
Following the politically momentous event of Brexit, rather immediate (if parochial) concerns spring to mind. How would a border effect Northern Ireland? Would it be on the land border with the Republic, or would the Irish Sea be a natural divide? Or maybe we need to consider the peace process, with pro-EU Sinn Féin now calling for a border poll.
All these issues would have a major impact on students from Northern Ireland. The difficulty of crossing a land border and the threat of political turmoil will seem darkly reminiscent to Northern students, many of whom have grown up on the horror stories of the Troubles. Brexit could be a deterrent to returning to the North more frequently. The idea of needing my Irish passport checked every time I want to return home is not reassuring. Bus links will be badly disrupted if there is a border, even affecting Donegal students as most Dublin-Donegal links cross Northern Ireland.
This referendum will doubtlessly prove to have had a critical effect on students in Trinity. Fees, for example, is one issue. There are doubtless many Northern students in Trinity who are proud British citizens yet wanted to stay in the EU. Unless they quite quickly procure an Irish passport, they may now be subject to non-EU fees in the future. That fact alone might destroy Trinity’s ambition to be an all-Ireland university, as well badly hurting the finances of such students.
—
Patrick McDonagh, third-year economics and history
“In terms of education for Northern Irish students (and British students in general), the EU opened a lot of doors and opportunities that would otherwise not be feasible. In the most obvious sense, the inability of the Irish government to discriminate against EU students in terms of fees enabled Northern Irish and other UK students to study in Ireland without massive financial difficulties. Yet, once the UK leaves, this will not apply, thereby producing vast uncertainty for UK students wanting to, and indeed currently studying in, Ireland. Furthermore, it will make the Provost’s plan to attract more Northern Irish students potentially more difficult. As for myself, Brexit simply adds urgency to my application for an Irish passport in order to avoid potential changes in fees and to ensure I still have a European passport, but it does make it less likely that I would want to live or study in the UK after my undergraduate.
In terms of Northern Ireland’s vote in this referendum, it was a fascinating picture: by massive margins, those from the nationalist community supported remain, but they failed to show up in large numbers, as reflected in how turnout in West Belfast was lower than in the Stormont election in May. Meanwhile, the unionist community did show up in larger numbers, but they were evenly split, which led to an overall result of 56 per cent remain in Northern Ireland. This referendum, with its result of dragging Scotland and Northern Ireland out of the EU, will have huge constitutional ramifications in the UK, most obviously by perhaps making Scotland leave, but also by making Irish unity an active and very important political cleavage once again. As such, for education and Northern Ireland Brexit means uncertainty, with very few silver linings.
Further Ostracisation for Northern Students
“
Northern Ireland leaving the EU against its will will have a huge effect on students at college in Trinity. Northern Irish students already feel unwelcome in southern universities in many ways, for example the higher grades for entry to the same courses. Following this morning’s result, Northern Irish students will likely face border checks while travelling to university, and some might require a visa. They will likely have greatly increased fees, face ostracisation from peers, and have much lower chances of employment in the Republic after graduation.
—
Aoibheann Ní Lochlainn, third-year medicine and incoming Welfare Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union
No EU Support, But Still Divided
“
Waking up this morning at 6am to a country that had voted to leave the EU was a pretty unpleasant, to say the least. The North has benefitted from large amounts of EU funding to support the peace process since 1995. A planned shared educational campus in my town, Omagh, might have received some of this EU funding. In a post-Brexit world, it’ll have to source funding from elsewhere.
There used to be the old joke that Northern Ireland was 30 years behind the rest of the UK. Today, the older generation of the UK, those who voted predominantly to leave, proved that they’re just as stuck in the halcyon days of Britain’s past as the residents of Northern Ireland.
Unlike Scotland, however, independence is not an option for Northern Ireland. A united Ireland looks unlikely too. I doubt anyone in Leinster House is gleeful at the thought of the North trying to patch things back up with the South. We even managed to turn the referendum sectarian. Foyle, predominantly Catholic, voted 78.3 per cent remain. Protestant Belfast East voted leave. With a turnout of 48.9 per cent, the residents of West Belfast just didn’t seem to care.
I feel I’m luckier. Living in Dublin, studying in Trinity, maybe I’ll be more immune from the post-Brexit fallout. But my friends studying in Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University are concerned. The last message I got from a friend of mine? “And Northern Ireland was going so so well…”
—
Dominic McGrath, third-year law and politics and News Editor of The University Times
Once Again in Northern Ireland, Nationalism Dominates
“
Growing up in a Catholic Nationalist area of Antrim, the prospect of a united Ireland always seemed like the eventual best option for the North. But not like this. Not as a sorry afterthought of British xenophobia, grasping at whatever straws available to be heard.
Scrolling through Facebook, among people mourning the loss of our EU inclusion and jokes about getting an Irish passport, what stood out most was people from the nearest town, excitedly talking about the return of the “glory days of Great Britain”, and cheering on stories of “the greatest generation” making it out to cast their leaving vote.
The loss of all the benefits we had in the EU is really hard to stomach, but what I find worse is the blind nationalism of people my own age, eager to sit back and allow people who will not be around to deal with the results dictate what their future should be.
—
Raif Meyer, third-year law
An Uncertain Future
“
As a law and business student in my early twenties, I can now safely say that I don’t know what the future holds for me in any terms. As someone with two nationalities, one in and one now out of the EU, I must now make a choice – a choice further complicated by living under one of these nationalities and studying under another. This is difficult to write as no one can safely say what might happen next. This coming year, I aim, like many others, to apply for a life-changing internship, previously most likely in the UK – otherwise potentially restricting myself to a future in Ireland. This has always been the goal for myself and others, yet now I question the future implications of this. What standing will a country outside the EU have by the time I’m beginning my career, and how far will Britain have sunk by then? The decision made about my future was made against my will, and now the UK must prepare for the ultimate brain-drain before the official partition, by which time the majority of the “leave” voters will be in nursing homes, or have passed on.
The choice of Britain to leave affects greatly my future relationships with family, friends and partners. I feel like I have been forced from where I live, left unsure as to where to go. Ireland is so small and the population is now set to rise, but I don’t consider the UK’s current state of uncertainty as an option. As awful as this is for all of us involved, it still doesn’t mean that life for those left behind in the UK will be any better. Friends identifying as Irish while living in Northern Ireland and studying in Great Britain fear further implications. This upcoming year is worth half of my degree, and yet it will be overshadowed with crippling doubt and fear for everything I have worked so hard for.
—
Clara King, third-year law and business
Realities Must be Accepted by Both Sides
“
Following the politically momentous event of Brexit, rather immediate (if parochial) concerns spring to mind. How would a border effect Northern Ireland? Would it be on the land border with the Republic, or would the Irish Sea be a natural divide? Or maybe we need to consider the peace process, with pro-EU Sinn Féin now calling for a border poll.
All these issues would have a major impact on students from Northern Ireland. The difficulty of crossing a land border and the threat of political turmoil will seem darkly reminiscent to Northern students, many of whom have grown up on the horror stories of the Troubles. Brexit could be a deterrent to returning to the North more frequently. The idea of needing my Irish passport checked every time I want to return home is not reassuring. Bus links will be badly disrupted if there is a border, even affecting Donegal students as most Dublin-Donegal links cross Northern Ireland.
This referendum will doubtlessly prove to have had a critical effect on students in Trinity. Fees, for example, is one issue. There are doubtless many Northern students in Trinity who are proud British citizens yet wanted to stay in the EU. Unless they quite quickly procure an Irish passport, they may now be subject to non-EU fees in the future. That fact alone might destroy Trinity’s ambition to be an all-Ireland university, as well badly hurting the finances of such students.
—
Patrick McDonagh, third-year economics and history
“Waking up this morning at 6am to a country that had voted to leave the EU was a pretty unpleasant, to say the least. The North has benefitted from large amounts of EU funding to support the peace process since 1995. A planned shared educational campus in my town, Omagh, might have received some of this EU funding. In a post-Brexit world, it’ll have to source funding from elsewhere.
There used to be the old joke that Northern Ireland was 30 years behind the rest of the UK. Today, the older generation of the UK, those who voted predominantly to leave, proved that they’re just as stuck in the halcyon days of Britain’s past as the residents of Northern Ireland.
Unlike Scotland, however, independence is not an option for Northern Ireland. A united Ireland looks unlikely too. I doubt anyone in Leinster House is gleeful at the thought of the North trying to patch things back up with the South. We even managed to turn the referendum sectarian. Foyle, predominantly Catholic, voted 78.3 per cent remain. Protestant Belfast East voted leave. With a turnout of 48.9 per cent, the residents of West Belfast just didn’t seem to care.
I feel I’m luckier. Living in Dublin, studying in Trinity, maybe I’ll be more immune from the post-Brexit fallout. But my friends studying in Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University are concerned. The last message I got from a friend of mine? “And Northern Ireland was going so so well…”
Once Again in Northern Ireland, Nationalism Dominates
“
Growing up in a Catholic Nationalist area of Antrim, the prospect of a united Ireland always seemed like the eventual best option for the North. But not like this. Not as a sorry afterthought of British xenophobia, grasping at whatever straws available to be heard.
Scrolling through Facebook, among people mourning the loss of our EU inclusion and jokes about getting an Irish passport, what stood out most was people from the nearest town, excitedly talking about the return of the “glory days of Great Britain”, and cheering on stories of “the greatest generation” making it out to cast their leaving vote.
The loss of all the benefits we had in the EU is really hard to stomach, but what I find worse is the blind nationalism of people my own age, eager to sit back and allow people who will not be around to deal with the results dictate what their future should be.
—
Raif Meyer, third-year law
An Uncertain Future
“
As a law and business student in my early twenties, I can now safely say that I don’t know what the future holds for me in any terms. As someone with two nationalities, one in and one now out of the EU, I must now make a choice – a choice further complicated by living under one of these nationalities and studying under another. This is difficult to write as no one can safely say what might happen next. This coming year, I aim, like many others, to apply for a life-changing internship, previously most likely in the UK – otherwise potentially restricting myself to a future in Ireland. This has always been the goal for myself and others, yet now I question the future implications of this. What standing will a country outside the EU have by the time I’m beginning my career, and how far will Britain have sunk by then? The decision made about my future was made against my will, and now the UK must prepare for the ultimate brain-drain before the official partition, by which time the majority of the “leave” voters will be in nursing homes, or have passed on.
The choice of Britain to leave affects greatly my future relationships with family, friends and partners. I feel like I have been forced from where I live, left unsure as to where to go. Ireland is so small and the population is now set to rise, but I don’t consider the UK’s current state of uncertainty as an option. As awful as this is for all of us involved, it still doesn’t mean that life for those left behind in the UK will be any better. Friends identifying as Irish while living in Northern Ireland and studying in Great Britain fear further implications. This upcoming year is worth half of my degree, and yet it will be overshadowed with crippling doubt and fear for everything I have worked so hard for.
—
Clara King, third-year law and business
Realities Must be Accepted by Both Sides
“
Following the politically momentous event of Brexit, rather immediate (if parochial) concerns spring to mind. How would a border effect Northern Ireland? Would it be on the land border with the Republic, or would the Irish Sea be a natural divide? Or maybe we need to consider the peace process, with pro-EU Sinn Féin now calling for a border poll.
All these issues would have a major impact on students from Northern Ireland. The difficulty of crossing a land border and the threat of political turmoil will seem darkly reminiscent to Northern students, many of whom have grown up on the horror stories of the Troubles. Brexit could be a deterrent to returning to the North more frequently. The idea of needing my Irish passport checked every time I want to return home is not reassuring. Bus links will be badly disrupted if there is a border, even affecting Donegal students as most Dublin-Donegal links cross Northern Ireland.
This referendum will doubtlessly prove to have had a critical effect on students in Trinity. Fees, for example, is one issue. There are doubtless many Northern students in Trinity who are proud British citizens yet wanted to stay in the EU. Unless they quite quickly procure an Irish passport, they may now be subject to non-EU fees in the future. That fact alone might destroy Trinity’s ambition to be an all-Ireland university, as well badly hurting the finances of such students.
—
Patrick McDonagh, third-year economics and history
Growing up in a Catholic Nationalist area of Antrim, the prospect of a united Ireland always seemed like the eventual best option for the North. But not like this. Not as a sorry afterthought of British xenophobia, grasping at whatever straws available to be heard.
Scrolling through Facebook, among people mourning the loss of our EU inclusion and jokes about getting an Irish passport, what stood out most was people from the nearest town, excitedly talking about the return of the “glory days of Great Britain”, and cheering on stories of “the greatest generation” making it out to cast their leaving vote.
The loss of all the benefits we had in the EU is really hard to stomach, but what I find worse is the blind nationalism of people my own age, eager to sit back and allow people who will not be around to deal with the results dictate what their future should be.
“As a law and business student in my early twenties, I can now safely say that I don’t know what the future holds for me in any terms. As someone with two nationalities, one in and one now out of the EU, I must now make a choice – a choice further complicated by living under one of these nationalities and studying under another. This is difficult to write as no one can safely say what might happen next. This coming year, I aim, like many others, to apply for a life-changing internship, previously most likely in the UK – otherwise potentially restricting myself to a future in Ireland. This has always been the goal for myself and others, yet now I question the future implications of this. What standing will a country outside the EU have by the time I’m beginning my career, and how far will Britain have sunk by then? The decision made about my future was made against my will, and now the UK must prepare for the ultimate brain-drain before the official partition, by which time the majority of the “leave” voters will be in nursing homes, or have passed on.
The choice of Britain to leave affects greatly my future relationships with family, friends and partners. I feel like I have been forced from where I live, left unsure as to where to go. Ireland is so small and the population is now set to rise, but I don’t consider the UK’s current state of uncertainty as an option. As awful as this is for all of us involved, it still doesn’t mean that life for those left behind in the UK will be any better. Friends identifying as Irish while living in Northern Ireland and studying in Great Britain fear further implications. This upcoming year is worth half of my degree, and yet it will be overshadowed with crippling doubt and fear for everything I have worked so hard for.
Realities Must be Accepted by Both Sides
“
Following the politically momentous event of Brexit, rather immediate (if parochial) concerns spring to mind. How would a border effect Northern Ireland? Would it be on the land border with the Republic, or would the Irish Sea be a natural divide? Or maybe we need to consider the peace process, with pro-EU Sinn Féin now calling for a border poll.
All these issues would have a major impact on students from Northern Ireland. The difficulty of crossing a land border and the threat of political turmoil will seem darkly reminiscent to Northern students, many of whom have grown up on the horror stories of the Troubles. Brexit could be a deterrent to returning to the North more frequently. The idea of needing my Irish passport checked every time I want to return home is not reassuring. Bus links will be badly disrupted if there is a border, even affecting Donegal students as most Dublin-Donegal links cross Northern Ireland.
This referendum will doubtlessly prove to have had a critical effect on students in Trinity. Fees, for example, is one issue. There are doubtless many Northern students in Trinity who are proud British citizens yet wanted to stay in the EU. Unless they quite quickly procure an Irish passport, they may now be subject to non-EU fees in the future. That fact alone might destroy Trinity’s ambition to be an all-Ireland university, as well badly hurting the finances of such students.
—
Patrick McDonagh, third-year economics and history
Following the politically momentous event of Brexit, rather immediate (if parochial) concerns spring to mind. How would a border effect Northern Ireland? Would it be on the land border with the Republic, or would the Irish Sea be a natural divide? Or maybe we need to consider the peace process, with pro-EU Sinn Féin now calling for a border poll.
All these issues would have a major impact on students from Northern Ireland. The difficulty of crossing a land border and the threat of political turmoil will seem darkly reminiscent to Northern students, many of whom have grown up on the horror stories of the Troubles. Brexit could be a deterrent to returning to the North more frequently. The idea of needing my Irish passport checked every time I want to return home is not reassuring. Bus links will be badly disrupted if there is a border, even affecting Donegal students as most Dublin-Donegal links cross Northern Ireland.
This referendum will doubtlessly prove to have had a critical effect on students in Trinity. Fees, for example, is one issue. There are doubtless many Northern students in Trinity who are proud British citizens yet wanted to stay in the EU. Unless they quite quickly procure an Irish passport, they may now be subject to non-EU fees in the future. That fact alone might destroy Trinity’s ambition to be an all-Ireland university, as well badly hurting the finances of such students.
