Resilience: a high price for survival? The impact of austerity on Irish Higher Education, South and North

This chapter explores the impact of austerity policies on Irish higher education, comparing selected dimensions in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Raising questions about the extent to which such policies represented a step-change in direction -- rather than a logical development of several decades of neo-liberal policies -- the concept of institutional resilience is drawn upon to analyse qualitative material obtained from senior higher education leaders and expert observers.The discussion is organised in four parts. First, a brief summary of funding trends for higher education in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is provided. Second, ‘snapshots’ illustrating the impact of funding cuts on students and staff are outlined. Third, issues of governance, leadership and institutional resilience are explored. Fourth, the chapter concludes with reflections on the price of resilience -- at what point may institutional survival represent a Pyrrhic victory if core values and purposes have to be compromised?