Following private talks between Univeristy College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the Innovation Alliance was announced on March 12 by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

The joint partnership in third level research has the potential to develop 300 companies, which will in turn create thousands of jobs. A world-class enterprise corridor between TCD and UCD will be created - the IFSC of Irish education.

The project will mainly target PHD students, increasing the number of PhDs by 1,000 a year, and creating a fourth level education system.

The heads of TCD and UCD say the €650 million scheme will drive new enterprise at a time of national crisis.

The strongest possible support was promised by Brian Cowen at the unveiling of the Innovation Alliance, which will require a mix of funding from Government, industry and private sources to come to fruition.

Accompanied by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, Mr Cowen also revealed the formation of an Innovation Task Force, to be chaired by his department’s secretary general Dermot McCarthy, which will have public and private sector input.

“This alliance between UCD and TCD is pulling together an important critical mass in a way that is collaborative, not competitive,” Mr Cowen said.

“What we’re talking about here is two universities, two of our leading universities, leading the way, pioneering, in my opinion, the way our academic community must organise itself in the future, so as to contribute not only to the academic life of the country, but the economic life of the country.

“The innovation taskforce will draw on international experience and successful national models such as the IFSC,” Mr Cowen said.

The Irish Universities Association (IUA) welcomed the Taoiseach’s support for the state’s universities to work together.

”This initiative confirms that the universities have a central role to play in accelerating our economic recovery,” said Ned Costello, IUA chief executive.

“The Taoiseach and Ministers signalled that they welcome more such approaches by the sector and we look forward to further collaboration with Government in that regard,” he added.

National University of Ireland Maynooth also welcomed the initiative and said it shone a spotlight on Ireland.

TCD provost Dr John Hegarty and UCD president Dr Hugh Brady said their venture was a direct response to the Government’s Smart Economy economic strategy document published before Christmas, but it was also the culmination of more than two years of planning on research collaboration.

 Dr Hegarty said the proposal would help to reconstruct the country through new ideas and research.

“We are targeting up to 300 new and growing companies over a 10-year period and creating tens of thousands of new jobs.

“This is ambitious, very ambitious. It will not be easy, we are doing it together.”

As well as a focus on start-up companies, the plans will involve research-led support for indigenous companies and the protection of 150,000 Irish jobs already in existence through foreign direct investment.

"We want to make innovation the third pillar of our universities, along with the traditional ones of teaching and research," said Dr Hugh Brady.

Mr Cowen said the academy would help the country remain an attractive hub for international investors.

However, there is some anger among university heads that the talks between the two universities were conducted in secret. There are fears also that the merger could cause rivalries among the country’s third-level institutions if funding is steered away from other colleges and towards the two institutions, which are listed in the world’s top 200.

While all parties are observing civility and are determined to take a positive view, the secret nature of the merger talks has sown seeds of distrust in some minds.

This has been exacerbated by the knowledge that the talks were taking place at the very time that the Irish Universities Association (IUA) was preparing a document for Taoiseach Brian Cowen, setting out the need for collaboration and co-operation across the sector. 

Writing in his online blog, Prof von Prondzynski, Head of Dublin City University, said:

“Welcome though today’s announcement is, it was preceded by an element of secrecy which was not helpful and which could have sowed the seeds of serious distrust in the sector.

“It is our job now to overcome that and to reinstate national collaboration and mutual support.”

(Sources: Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, World University News)