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Prestigious U.S.-Ireland Scholarship Paused Amid Funding Woes

More than 300 American students have benefited from the George J. Mitchell program, founded after the Good Friday Agreement, but it has been halted indefinitely.

By Megan Specia

Reporting from London

New York Times

Published Oct. 9, 2024Updated Oct. 11, 2024

Last month, 12 American students flew across the Atlantic to begin the prestigious George J. Mitchell scholarship program in Ireland and Northern Ireland. They are living in cities and towns including Cork, Belfast and Dublin, studying subjects like biotechnology, history and engineering.

But they could be the last cohort in the program, as organizers announced earlier this year that they had paused selection for coming years because of funding difficulties.

The program sent its first students to the island in 2000, in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, which forged peace after decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Named for then-Senator George J. Mitchell, who led the talks, it has brought nearly 300 students to Ireland since its inception. The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition for a year, accommodation and a stipend for living expenses and travel.

Organizers said the difficulty in securing long-term funding for the program raised questions about the changing relationship between the United States and Ireland, although the countries still benefit from close ties, particularly when compared to other small European countries. The scholarship program has an overall budget of around $1 million, according to its latest annual report.

Simon Harris, Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister, was in Washington on Wednesday for a two-day visit to meet with President Biden and to attend an event marking 100 years of bilateral diplomatic relations between the two nations.

For a small country of just five million, Ireland has an outsized status in the American psyche because of the large numbers of immigrants in centuries past, the deep involvement of Irish Americans in the founding of the Irish state and more recently, America’s involvement in the peace process in Northern Ireland.

“I think Britain’s exit from the E.U. has also left Ireland as the only English-speaking country in the E.U. and its role as a bridge across the Atlantic, that has enhanced it,” he added.

Trina Vargo, the founder and president of the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, the nonprofit that awards the Mitchell scholarship, said she had hoped the talks between Mr. Biden and Mr. Harris could be a good opportunity to raise the funding issue, but so far there has been little response from either government.

She said the halt in the scholarship would be an overall loss for the island as well as for prospective American students.

“We think it is good for Ireland and Northern Ireland that their knowledge comes from living and studying here, as opposed to some diddley-eye, romantic nonsense,” Ms. Vargo said. “If the Mitchell goes away, these future leaders will go to Cambridge or Oxford, or take one of the other prestigious scholarships, but they won’t be coming to this island.”

The difficulty in sourcing funding, however, was perhaps inevitable, she said, as demographic shifts in the United States mean that a smaller percentage of the overall population identify as Irish American and a powerful generation of Irish Americans in Congress, like Ted Kennedy, Tip O’Neill and Pat Moynihan, has passed on.

Mr. Mitchell, in an emailed statement, said he had recently met with the 25th class of Mitchell scholars and hoped the program would continue. “They are smart and thoughtful future leaders. They care about service and giving back, which is a central purpose of the scholarship program,” he said. “It’s an important part of maintaining the relationship between the United States and Ireland.”

The U.S. government eliminated its funding for the scholarship program in 2014 during budget cuts, and the government in Northern Ireland did the same in 2015. But the Irish government has provided statutory funding to the program since 1999 and has also committed to match funding up to 20 million euros raised by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance from philanthropic sources.

Ireland’s Department of Further and Higher Education said in a statement that it allocates $485,000 in annual grant funding to cover administrative costs. It called the pause in recruitment “regrettable” but said it “remains committed to supporting the George Mitchell Scholarship Fund into the future.”

Ms. Vargo said the grant funding was welcome but not sufficient to cover long-term costs. So far, attempts to persuade American philanthropists to fund the program have proved unsuccessful.

Ahead of his visit to Washington, Mr. Harris reflected on the relationship between the United States and Ireland in a statement, saying it was “renewed and strengthened with each generation.”

Mr. Biden has celebrated his family connection to Irelandthroughout his political career. But Wednesday’s meeting was also a reminder that this relationship could be set to change in the next administration, whether it results in a return to power for former President Donald J. Trump, who had a contentious relationshipwith Ireland, or elevates Vice President Kamala Harris, who has less of a personal connection to it.

Mr. Harris said he expected that he and Mr. Biden “will reflect on where the U.S. and Ireland can do more to work together, based on shared values, to tackle the many challenges we face, including the desperate situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/world/europe/us-ireland-mitchell-scholarship-paused.html