Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science of Ireland James Lawless
| Photo Credit: Suhasini Haidar
As the U.S.’s reciprocal tariffs, due to be implemented on April 2 loom ahead, Ireland is escalating trade ties with other countries, and discussing Free Trade Agreements through the European Union, says Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science of Ireland James Lawless.
Speaking to The Hindu on the side-lines of the Raisina Dialogue conference, Mr. Lawless said Ireland was also welcoming more Indians to universities and for work, dismissing concerns that anti-immigrant feelings have grown in the country. During his visit to India, Mr. Lawless travelled to Chennai, and met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, inviting more collaborations between Tamil Nadu and Ireland during a roundtable with Vice-Chancellors, of a number of higher education institutes there. Excerpts:
U.S. President Donald Trump has called Ireland a ‘big cheater’ on tariffs. He also calls India a big violator on tariffs. How big a threat do you think the April 2 reciprocal tariffs around the world are going to be?
[Mr. Trump’s words are] certainly unhelpful. Ireland leads in free trade. We believe in tariff-free trade. The introduction of tariffs is a threat economically to Ireland and to the EU and to every other country affected. But Ireland is part of a market of 450 million people within the EU, with no tariffs, no borders, you know, no restrictions. We also are negotiating a tariff-free treaty with Canada. It’s ironic that we will have a frictionless trade with most North American states, Canada and Mexico, even while tariffs are being introduced in the middle. The EU is engaging with the U.S., looking at what the issues are there, but we will continue to negotiate Free Trade Agreements (FTA) on a wider stage as well. The EU India FTA is in progress. President Van der Leyen and the College of Commissioners visited here last month. Ireland trades 16 billion Euros with India already, and that was the last 2024 figure, and we are working together in a number of high-tech fields like semiconductors, AI and quantum computing, which is really the future. And we are seeing a large number of Indians coming to study and to work in Ireland.
The number of Indian students in Ireland has increased tenfold in a decade — what explains this?
Yes, the number of Indian students in Ireland has grown from, I believe, 700 in 2013 to now up to 12,000, with about 9,000 in public colleges. In terms of the non-EU countries in the international student body, Indians are the largest single group, followed by students from China. Ireland has become a tech centre over the last couple of decades. I often say we skipped the Industrial Revolution. We went from the farms into the technology companies directly. And during my visit here, we have discussed how to collaborate in these areas, primarily working in technology engineering, life sciences, and healthcare. I would say the two areas of STEM and healthcare are probably the two big categories of Indian workers in Ireland to date.
We recently saw the visit to Washington of controversial Irish politician and former professional wrestler Conan McGregor and his meeting with Mr. Trump, where he spoke out against the government’s immigration policy, saying, ‘Ireland is at the cusp of losing its Irishness’. How do you respond?
So the first thing just on Mr. McGregor, he does not represent Ireland. He has no mandate. He is not an elected representative of any kind. Of course, President Trump is welcome to invite whatever guests he wishes to his house, although it is a public house. But we recognise his sovereignty to see who he chooses.
EU and India talking about a mobility partnership, and Indian immigrants in Ireland have grown nearly 200% in this decade, and yet we see in Europe and in Ireland too, a growing anti-immigration sentiment as well, so is this kind of migration growth sustainable?
Well, we just had an election in Ireland, and the far-right or the anti-immigrant sentiment did not receive any mandate in Parliament — they actually won no seats in Parliament. So out of 178 MPs, they have zero. I think that actually speaks louder than [anti-immigrant rhetoric] or anybody else. Of course, there’s always going to be noise and dissonance, particularly online. And you know, some people like to, like to vent, but I think actually, look, I think we had, we have a combination of things. We have a rapid growth of population. We do have a diverse population. And we are seeing a more global migration, with the vast majority of people coming to work, coming to contribute, coming to study, and that is actually a really good thing. The Irish people as a nation, we are a nation of immigrants. St. Patrick, who we celebrate on our National Day, was an immigrant. We have a diaspora in the world. There are many, many hundreds of millions more people of Irish descent, than there ever were back in the island. So we are a global community. There is some kind of populist anti-migrant sentiment, as we see in many, many countries. But as I said, the noise it makes is disproportionate to its popular support.
Published – March 23, 2025 06:09 pm IST