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Podcasts from The Open University give a fresh perspective on the Good Friday Agreement

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, The Open University in Ireland is launching a new 4-part podcast series exploring the impact the agreement has had on society beyond just politics.

6th April 2023
a woman writes in a notebook at an event

OU to lead first public policy research and knowledge exchange academic network across the UK and Ireland

A major new public policy initiative, PolicyWISE, is being developed by The Open University (OU). PolicyWISE will be the UK's first network of academics and civil servants to explicitly address comparative public policy research and knowledge exchange across the four nations of the UK and Ireland.

16th November 2022

Ronan – OU study was a career changing decision

Ronan smiling into the camera

Ronan lives in Waterford and studied a BSc in Engineering with The Open University. Having completed his Leaving Cert in 2002, he did an apprenticeship in Mechanical Fitting for 4 years during which he studied part time for a Diploma in Maintenance Technology at CIT, attending night classes.

Along the way, people encouraged him to carry on his studies and obtain an engineering degree, but Ronan wanted to travel so put study on the back burner. It was always on his mind to return to study at some stage, but he didn’t want to commit to night classes or full-time study.

29th October 2022
a landscape of yellow barley and a bright blue sky which looks like a Ukrainian flag

Help for people supporting Ukrainians in Ireland launched by OU

The Open University (OU) has launched a new free online course for people housing, caring for or working with Ukrainians in Ireland and the UK. The course focuses on Ukrainian culture and language and has been developed specifically for Irish and UK citizens hosting refugees, and service providers working with people who have arrived from Ukraine.

19th October 2022
The Queen in a garden

Her Majesty The Queen, 1926-2022

The Open University is saddened to learn of the passing of Her Majesty The Queen and joins people across the world in expressing our condolences to the Royal family.

Her Majesty granted The Open University its Royal Charter in 1969 and visited its Milton Keynes campus with the Duke of Edinburgh on the institution’s tenth anniversary, in 1979. 

8th September 2022
Collins Barracks, Dublin

OU research looks to uncover the story of army barracks across Ireland

An Open University research project which is making historical army barracks’ buildings across the island of Ireland more accessible to people in the North and South has received funding.

The North-South Research Programme in Ireland has awarded The Open University (OU) and University College Dublin (UCD) €200k to deliver a project mapping, inventorying, and recording of the Army Barracks of Ireland, 1690-1921.

15th June 2022
Niall Stokes in his graduation robes

NEWS RELEASE: Founding editor of Hot Press magazine honoured alongside graduates at Open University in Ireland ceremony in Dublin

Niall Stokes, long-standing founder, and editor of the popular Hot Press magazine was today (8 June) bestowed with the honorary degree of Doctor of the University by The Open University in Ireland (OUiI), at a ceremony in Croke Park, Dublin.  The ceremony was the first OU graduation in Ireland since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The celebratory event saw over 100 graduating students joined by friends, family, university alumni and former honorary graduates to mark the occasion.

9th June 2022
Ronan Keating in his graduation robes

Ronan Keating bestowed with honorary degree from The Open University for charity work

Ronan Keating has received an honorary degree from The Open University in recognition of his philanthropic contributions to charities over the past 25 years, particularly to improve cancer care.

The Dublin-born musician, songwriter and presenter of BBC ONE’s The One Show, stepped up to receive the accolade for his charitable work following the loss of his mother to breast cancer in 1998.

17th May 2022
a robotic arm

REF 2021 recognises 82% of OU research impact as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent.’

The Open University (OU)’s commitment to research and societal impact is recognised today (Thursday 12 May), with 82% of its research impact assessed to be ‘world-leading’ (4*) or ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

12th May 2022
A turtle swimming under water with the words OpenLearn above it

The Open University's free learning site turns 15 and reaches 100M visitors

The Open University’s (OU) free learning site, OpenLearn is celebrating a milestone after clocking up 100 million visitors in the 15 years since it was launched.

Established as a trailblazing open educational resource, OpenLearn has successfully broken-down barriers to education, with over a thousand courses and 15,000 hours of educational interactives, videos and articles.

In the last two years, over 300,000 visits came from the Republic of Ireland, bolstered by a surge in traffic during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

11th January 2022

For media enquiries:

Contact Christine Murphy

Communications Manager
Tel +44 (0) 28 9053 6219