Ireland's seven universities are facing a major funding crisis due to the decimation of revenue streams caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to documents seen by RTÉ's This Week, factors such as the collapse of international student fee income, rental of on-campus accommodation and commercial revenues will cost the universities €374m in the 2020 and 2021 financial years.
The details of the financial crisis facing the sector are contained in a document sent from the Irish Universities Association to Government and other stakeholders in the education sector this weekend.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 Irish universities have played a leading role in the national response. They are providing testing facilities, contact tracing and