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

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 that forged peace after decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Named for then-Senator George J. Mitchell, who lead the talks, it has brought nearly 300 students to Ireland since its inception. The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition for a year, accommodations 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 has an overall budget of around $1 million, according to its latest annual report.

Simon Harris, Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister, is 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.