The Consular Office provides information and advice for enrollment in schools and universities in Italy and issues the necessary declarations of value for qualifications obtained in schools and universities in the consular district so that interested parties can obtain the equivalence of primary and with similar Italian qualifications, enrollment in Italian schools and universities, recognition in Italy of university studies and the assignment of scholarships.
The executive program of the Cultural Agreement between the Italian Republic and Ireland (signed in 1984) aims to encourage a series of common initiatives in the fields of education, culture and science. These initiatives and interventions also form part of the perspective of the numerous community programs (Socrates/Erasmus, Leonardo, etc.) which facilitate exchanges and information of experiences between the two countries in the educational and scientific fields.
On the school front, there are a series of initiatives between the school authorities to improve mutual knowledge of their respective systems, programs and teaching methods, including a program of exchanges between experts in the sector, with the aim of studying the education system of the other country. Furthermore, the two sides will promote exchanges of classes and teachers to favor direct contacts between educational institutions.
In Ireland there are Italian Departments in four universities: University of Dublin Trinity College (founded in 1776, it is the oldest Department of Italian Studies in the Anglo-Saxon world), University College Dublin, University College Cork and National University of Ireland in Galway, which provide study paths dedicated to the Italian language within the context of specialist degree courses. Among the Community resources used for the diffusion of the language, there are those of the Socrates and Leonardo programmes. Furthermore, Italy provides contributions to Irish universities where the Italian language is taught.
After a slight decline due to the economic crisis, the number of students attending Italian language courses organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Dublin has grown steadily in recent years.
As far as cultural activities are concerned, the Agreement fosters collaboration between a number of Irish and Italian institutions (including the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, the National Research Council, the Istituto dell’ Enciclopedia Italiana, the Giorgio Cini Foundation of Venice, the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation of Turin, in Italy and the National Museum of Ireland, the National Gallery of Ireland and others in Ireland) for the organization and promotion of seminars, conferences, presentations of books, exhibitions, concerts, theatre and cinema and to support publications of common interest.