Excellence in Exile

MU is a certified University of Sanctuary welcoming refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants into our university community and fostering a culture of inclusion for all those seeking sanctuary. MU offers a number of Sanctuary Scholarships for students who are asylum seekers or refugees in Ireland and who do not have access to state support for their studies.

MU is a member of the Universities of Sanctuary Ireland network.

MU offers a local Scholars at Risk Fellowship for academics/research staff who are forced to flee their home country. We are a member of the Global Scholars at Risk Network whose mission is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom, and we are members of the Scholars at Risk Ireland network.

The European office of the Global Scholars at Risk Network (SAR Europe) is hosted at MU and we are active partners in the SAR Europe EU-funded InSPIREurope initiative to support researchers at risk.

Please contact [email protected] if you would like more information.

Supports for Maynooth University Staff and Students

Students
Students who would like to talk to someone should contact Student Services, including the Student Health Centre at 01 708 3878 and Counselling Service at 01 708 3554.
International students may also reach out to the International Office to connect with other students from their region.

Staff
There is also support available to staff through Inspire Workplace Services (confidential counselling, legal and budgeting supports).

Events

Are you organising a University event?
Please let us know by contacting us at [email protected].

We are here Hear refugee Photovoice exhibition
Maynooth Access Programme and College Connect are hosting the We are here Hear refugee Photovoice exhibition on campus again from September 23rd 2022 to September 30th 2022 to coincide with the MAP Launchpad event for new students.

The exhibition will be installed behind the new TSI building in the courtyard area.

World Refugee Day 2022
A Conversation with Rehan Ali and Marwa Zamir

We are HERE/HEAR - 16th June 2022
Mountjoy Prison are hosting the We are here Hear exhibition as part of World Refugee Day.
If anyone would like to come to the launch event in Mounjoy prison, you will need to register here ASAP. RSVP

MU University of Sanctuary Scholarship Scheme 2022 Information Session
This session will take place on Tuesday 15th March 2022 at 6pm via zoom. Click here to register

Candlelight Vigil - Monday 7th March at 1pm - Freedom Sculpture Maynooth University
On Monday, 7th March at 1:00pm, the University will hold a candlelight vigil in
support of our Ukrainian colleagues, students, and graduates; for members of our
community from across the entire region whose families, lives and livelihoods are
affected by the war; and as a sign of solidarity for the Ukrainian community in
Ireland and across the globe. The vigil will take place at the Freedom sculpture from
1:00-1:30 and is open to the public.

Following the vigil will be a public seminar entitled, ‘Putin's attack on Ukraine:
Explaining the war and what is at stake,’ by Professor Hana Cervinkova, Dr John
Paul Newman, and Professor John O’Brennan, Director of Maynooth University’s
Centre for European and Eurasian Studies. The seminar will be held in the Education
Building, Room SE001 from 1:30-2:30pm. The seminar is open to the public and
intended to provide history and context to the invasion.

We are here, HEAR exhibition
The We are here, HEAR exhibition is a Photo-voice open-air touring exhibition and virtual exhibition. The touring exhibition is visiting Higher Education Institutions in the MEND (Midlands East North Dublin region) as well as other purposefully selected locations due to their proximity to Direct Provision centres. You can explore the exhibition virtually here. Viewers can log their reaction to the website through a survey and learn more about the barriers faced by refugees accessing education through engaging with the training resources and video links provided.

Photo-voice exhibitions have been used all over the world with the intention to foster social change. The exhibition launched on the North Campus of Maynooth University, on October 26th. It will be hosted by DCU from the 25 February until the 10 March 2022 and by TUS – Athlone Campus from the 11-25 March. Keep an eye on our calendar below for other key dates. In early 2022, We are here Hear will be outdoors in the grounds of Dublin Castle, innovatively highlighting the dichotomy for people in the protection system in Ireland, who are often without citizenship, by occupying this iconic civic space

Relevant articles and information links

IIE Scholars Rescue Fund
120 fellows from 18 countries undertake IIE-SRF fellowships across 5 continents

EURAXESS Ireland
Euraxess Ireland provides support and information for researchers coming to live and work Ireland.

QQI
QQI’s free on-line NARIC Ireland Foreign Qualifications service provides information on over 1400 foreign qualifications from more than 150 countries. It allows users to download a document comparing their academic qualification from abroad with similar qualifications in Ireland.

In response to the news that Ireland will welcome thousands of people displaced by the war in Ukraine, QQI has published a guide, in Ukrainian to its online foreign qualifications recognition service (NARIC). This guide will help those arriving from Ukraine compare their qualifications to similar awards on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications and may assist them in accessing education and employment opportunities here in Ireland.

Psychological Society of Ireland
Psychological First Aid for Refugee Care: Helpful Do’s and Don’ts

KWETB
Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board offering Free English Language classes to non-English-speaking adults - ESOL
Offering Structured English language tuition for Adults to improve English grammar, spelling, and vocabulary, aimed at enhancing confidence and fluency in using everyday English for speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Courses are offered at flexible times, on a part time basis and are free of charge. We offer different levels of courses, from beginners to advanced classes.
The opportunity to gain a QQI English language certificate and to progress to higher level English language and Communication classes.
Brochure

DECONSTRUCTED
Deconstructed is a 3.5-minute artistic and research video about refugees’ experience in the protection process and in particular in the Direct Provision system. Featuring spoken word artist Felispeaks, and dancer Mufutau Yusuf, this video gives an insight of how in the ‘protection system’ in Ireland, one’s skillset, self-worth, and sense of identity are deconstructed.

College Connect and IRC Community Needs Analysis
A COMMUNITY NEEDS ANALYSIS WITH REFUGEES AND PEOPLE SEEKING ASYLUM EXPLORING ACCESS & BARRIERS TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN IRELAND
A participatory action peer-research project advocating for better access to higher education for refugees and people in the protection process in Ireland. College Connect in partnership with the Irish Refugee Council

2nd May 2022
Minister Harris announces central helpdesk for Ukrainian people seeking access to third level education

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