Member's statement: All-Ireland Higher Education Opportunities

Member's statement by Mr Pádraig Delargy on 9 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Pádraig Delargy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

9 June 2025

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

All-Ireland Higher Education Opportunities

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4996991

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I acknowledge the significant achievement in the South of holding the highest educational attainment rate anywhere in the world. According to CBRE's research in the 'Global Tech Talent Guidebook 2025', over 52% of the population in the South now hold a bachelor's degree or higher qualification. That is a remarkable achievement that reflects a sustained commitment to education across Ireland and is testament to the value that families, communities and educators across the South place on learning. In the North, we also have a fantastic and world-leading education system. I am proud to have been a teacher here and of the fact that I come from a family of teachers and educators. We know that our schools, colleges and universities punch well above their weight. We need to encourage lifelong learning, with more students staying in education and continuing their education journey throughout their lifetime. The Department for the Economy has done significant work to encourage more courses and greater student support for those who are in full-time employment or who have childcare or other caring responsibilities in order to prevent them from being locked out of academic opportunities and career progression. Fundamentally, we must ensure that equitable opportunities for higher education attainment are accessible to those who wish to pursue them in the North or the South. Far too often, young people in the North face barriers to accessing higher education, not because of lack of ability or ambition but due to gaps in careers services, complex and confusing application systems and a lack of alignment between key processes. Differences between the Central Applications Office (CAO) and UCAS application systems, particularly the misalignment of results release dates, place unnecessary stress on and create a disadvantage for students who are navigating all-Ireland educational opportunities. We must work together to remove those barriers. That means improving careers guidance in our schools to ensure that it is timely, independent and comprehensive, and it means pushing for a more joined-up approach to higher education applications across Ireland. Aligning the CAO and UCAS results dates is an important enabler for moving in that direction. We can recognise and applaud the South's achievement, but let it also serve as a call to action to us in the North. We must strive to ensure that our people, regardless of their background or geography, can access the education that they aspire to right across Ireland. Let us match ambition with action.

404 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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