Dr. Anthony Soares:

They are not necessarily competing. All institutions are striving for excellence. They are all autonomous institutions. They are all striving for excellence. Obviously they are looking at how they are doing relative to other institutions. However, they are also able to see where it is of mutual benefit to introduce it, they will co-operate. Universities Ireland is a classic example of that where the presidents and vice-chancellors of all the universities come together to discuss areas where it is of mutual benefit to the institutions, to their students and to the communities they serve to collaborate and co-operate. What I am trying to reflect is that for those institutions that further that collaboration, they need that certainty, that policy context behind them that gives them the encouragement that “Yes, we want you to do this” and “Yes we are going to provide the support for you to do that”.

That will give them the context to further that collaboration.

A final point is that the example relating to climate change is a common challenge for the two jurisdictions, North and South. It is an issue on which they need to co-operate, including within the further and higher education sector. Doing so is of mutual benefit to both. At the Centre for Cross Border Studies, of which I am director, we are always trying to encourage people not to see cross-Border co-operation or North-South co-operation as a luxury or that extra thing you do. It is not something that should be left in the hands of a particular person just because he or she lives near the Border and is, therefore, put in charge of cross-Border co-operation and left to get on with it. It has to be something that is taken on and recognised as core to one's mission. It is core to the policies of the two jurisdictions but, in this instance, it just so happens that in order to further that core mission we are collaborating on a North-South basis. It should not be seen as a luxury or an appendage that can be done away with at times of crisis or when the economies are not doing as well as they might.