Moves to attract the best and brightest US researchers fleeing to Ireland following university shutdowns by the Trump administration have prompted concern among some researchers here. Last summer, higher education minister James Lawless launched the Global Talent Initiative, an attempt to attract “disillusioned” US researchers to Ireland. With an initial budget of €8m per annum, the scheme is expected to support up to 15 researchers per year. Concern from UCC academicThe Department of Further and Higher Education also received correspondence highlighting issues with the running of the global talent initiative, the FOI documents show. “The Global Talent Initiative has tremendous potential, but the turnaround time is simply too short,” the academic wrote.

Source: Irish Examiner January 19, 2026 02:30 UTC