Cross Border Education: Long Overdue? 

By Sean Colligan 

Queen’s University Belfast and the Dundalk Institute of Technology have recently announced plans to establish Dundalk IT as a University College of Queen’s, with an aim for the collaboration to “catalyse economic and social development” and “enhance higher education, research and innovation provision” between Dublin and Belfast [1]. This means that from September 2026 onwards QUB will officially have a campus in the Republic of Ireland for the first time, with Dundalk IT joining the likes of St Mary’s and Stranmillis University College as constituent colleges. Although this move promises stronger links in further education across the island of Ireland, there are questions to be asked as to why it has taken so long for Queen’s to consider the move and the benefits that it entails—especially when they would sooner open a campus in India than explore the obvious opportunities of cross border education? 

A new campus in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is expected to open for students in January 2026, offering master’s programmes in “the areas of finance, technology and business analytics” which are “tailored to the specific needs of the Indian economy” [2]. These plans were announced only a month before the official opening of a voluntary redundancy scheme, as part of university plans to “manage costs in response to financial challenges being faced right across the UK higher education sector” [3]. While looking to slash expenditure by cutting jobs in Belfast, QUB are pouring massive amounts of money into starting a campus in another continent, clearly prioritising this over safer and more logical investment into all-Ireland education.  

It is clear that QUB are certainly looking to orient themselves towards cross border education, or in the eyes of the most cynical at least give off the impression. The university was only just recently the host of the Universities Ireland Conference, which gathered on a theme of ‘Collaborating for Change’, aiming to strengthen cooperation between universities across the island. Vice-Chancellor Sir Ian Greer was quoted as saying that the time for cross border partnership has “never been more vital”, with his emphasising that the conference would “show the value of higher education and its role as a driver of inclusive economic impact” [4]. The event, marked by a keynote address by former Tánaiste Simon Coveney, was the first of its kind to be held by Universities Ireland with its participation by figures in further education both north and south. 

This is all the while, according to BBC News NI, Queen’s faced a deficit of more than £11 mission over the 2024-2025 academic period [5]. How do they plan to meet these commitments to cross border education, all the while continuing their ardent push to get their foot in the door of GIFT City? QUB, as consistently one of the largest employers in Northern Ireland, should not juggle these pledges by sacrificing their workforce. The university should meet its civic obligations on the island of Ireland before pursuing these distant and far-off opportunities, instead focusing itself on the specific needs of the all-Ireland economy at home. The blame can not be squarely laid on Queen’s, of course, as they are trying to work with a funding model that is simply unsustainable without further funding from Stormont to cover the costs of students from home. The initiatives that Queen’s are trying to spearhead simply must be bankrolled by the Northern Ireland Executive if we are going to see any further progress made. 

Regardless, the new partnership between QUB and Dundalk IT represents a positive step for students across the island, and is clearly a landmark decision—while there have been existing collaborations when it comes to research with Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick and others, the amalgamation of these two institutions is the first time the university has really transcended the limits of border. It still remains to be seen whether or not Queen’s will leave this decision as its high water mark for efforts in cross border education, but it is certain that is in the interests of both north and south for QUB to live up to the collaborative rhetoric of Collaborating for Change and expand further on the spirit of this association. A shared vision for education can only be a positive thing, and is certainly within our reach. 

References 

1. “Queen’s University Belfast and Dundalk Institute of Technology announce major partnership to establish University College in Dundalk.” Dundalk Institute of Technology. 19 November 2025. https://www.dkit.ie/news/2025/queens-university-belfast-and-dundalk-institute-of-technology-announce-major-partnership 

2. “Queen’s University Belfast to launch campus in GIFT City, India.” Queen’s University Belfast. 30 January 2025. https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2025/launch-gift-city.html 

3. “Queen’s launches Voluntary Severance Scheme.” Queen’s University Belfast. 3 February 2025. https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2025/QueenslaunchesVoluntarySeveranceScheme.html 

4. “Universities Ireland Conference opens at Queen’s with call for deeper cross-border collaboration.” Queen’s University Belfast. 10 October 2025.  https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2025/UniversitiesIrelandConferenceopensatQueenswithcallfordeepercross-bordercollaboration.html 

5. Meredith, Robbie. “Queen’s University to cut jobs as it faces £11m deficit.” BBC News NI. 25 October 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy54v5lg45o