Minister Sherlock welcomes Irish Aid Fellows to Limerick

Minister Seán Sherlock met with Irish Aid Fellowship students during their visit to the Irish Aid offices in Limerick

Irish Aid was delighted to welcome a group of Irish Aid fellows to our office in Limerick. The post graduate students from developing countries are studying in Ireland under the Irish Aid Fellowship programme.

The students met with Minister of State for Development, Trade Promotion and North-South Co-operation, Seán Sherlock and shared their experience of the fellowships and studying in Ireland. Minister Sherlock pointed to the important role played by higher education in the fight against global poverty, both by expanding personal choices and opportunities and supporting overall sustainable economic growth and productivity.

The Irish Aid fellows are studying in a variety of fields including education, business, law, social policy, health, gender and the environment.  In 2014, Irish Aid supported fifty seven students from our nine partner countries and Burundi (Courtney Fellowship) to undertake postgraduate studies in both Ireland and the region. Current fellows in Ireland are studying at UCD, TCD, DCU, Kimmage Development Studies Centre, NUI Maynooth, NUI Galway, UCC, DIT, AIT and UL. 

Irish Aid has funded a Fellowship Training Programme since 1974. The Programme aims to strengthen the capacity of partner organisations in developing countries.

Irish Aid has funded a Fellowship Training Programme since 1974. The primary objective of the Fellowship Programme is to strengthen the capacity of partner organisations benefiting from Ireland’s support in our key partner countries.  Fellowships are targeted at mid-career professionals and awards are aligned to Irish Aid priorities and thematic areas.

Ten scholarships were also awarded under the Kader Asmal Fellowship for South Africa which aims to strengthen the capacity of organisations in South Africa in contributing to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability through economic development.  It is named in honour of the late Professor Kader Asmal, who was the founder of the Irish Anti Apartheid Movement and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

Fellowships are also awarded to successful post graduate applicants from Vietnam under the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme (IDEAS) Programme. The IDEAS Programme is a programme of experience sharing in support of high level capacity development of Vietnamese institutions engaged in economic and financial governance. 

A new strand to the fellowship programme for 2014-2015 is the Metta fellowship. The Metta Development Foundation (Metta) is a Myanmar National non-governmental organisation established to assist communities recovering from the consequences of conflict and humanitarian emergencies.

Read more about Irish Aid’s Fellowship programme.