{"id":431891,"date":"2026-05-04T14:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/431891\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:53:09","slug":"setu-waterford-celebrates-fourth-anniversary-in-tandem-with-irelands-eu-presidency-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/431891\/","title":{"rendered":"SETU Waterford celebrates fourth anniversary in tandem with Ireland\u2019s EU presidency – News"},"content":{"rendered":"

European Commissioner Michael McGrath championed SETU as a vital backbone in Ireland\u2019s democracy while speaking at the university as it celebrated its fourth anniversary since its inaugural foundation on May 1.<\/p>\n

The anniversary celebrations coincided with Ireland\u2019s upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union, with a key focus laid on cross-collaboration between the university and wider European institutions.<\/p>\n

Mr McGrath spoke alongside other academics and distinguished guests, including SETU president Professor Veronica Campbell and former Irish ambassador to the United States Dr Dan Mulhall.<\/p>\n

\"EuropeanEuropean Commissioner Michael McGrath and Professor Veronica Campbell, President of SETU, pictured at a tree-planting ceremony. \tPhoto: Patrick Browne<\/p>\n

\u201cSETU represents universities at their best,\u201d said Mr McGrath.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt drives innovation and research, connects deeply with its region while engaging internationally, and contributes to the broader European project.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities also play an essential role in safeguarding democracy. By challenging ideas, generating knowledge and fostering open debate, institutions like SETU help sustain informed, resilient and confident democratic societies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The importance of unlocking funding from European Union initiatives like Horizon Europe, a stream of research and innovation funding, was highlighted by Prof Campbell.<\/p>\n

The university has already secured almost \u20ac13 million from the fund to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis places SETU at the forefront of European-funded research and innovation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat matters most is what this means for our region: secure jobs, retained talent and opportunities for European collaboration in the South East.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event and the EU-funded projects showcased today demonstrate this impact and bring these opportunities to life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mercosur will have ‘net benefits’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s EU presidency, which begins on July 1, has been touted as pivotal at a time when a once-de facto world order is rapidly shifting, and traditional European alliances with the United States appear increasingly fickle.<\/p>\n

Domestic issues also possess the ability to hamper Ireland\u2019s presidency over the council.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael McGrath delivered a keynote entitled: \u2018Making Impact – Connecting to Europe\u2019. \tPhoto: Patrick Browne<\/p>\n

In January, the
\n Waterford News & Star spoke to farmers across Waterford<\/a> who voiced concern with the proposed trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the four-nation South American trading bloc.<\/p>\n

While Ireland voted against the deal at the European Council, it was ultimately approved by a qualified majority.<\/p>\n

Irish farmers have argued the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay will undercut Irish agriculture – particularly beef – and will taint the domestic market with poor quality produce.<\/p>\n

The deal began on May 1, but only provisionally, as Members of the European Parliament voted to refer the deal to the European Union\u2019s Court of Justice.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Waterford News and Star, Mr McGrath said that the deal will have \u201cnet benefits\u201d overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentally, Mercosur is about bringing down trade barriers. It is about eliminating or greatly reducing tariffs that already apply to goods that are being traded in both directions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lifeblood for Ireland is export. It is international trade, and farmers in Ireland have never had anything to fear from new markets being opened up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be monitoring the market developments, and there are controls and safeguards that are built into the Mercosur agreement to make sure that the perceived negative consequences do not materialise, and if they do, we have instruments where we can step in and prevent that harm being done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of Ireland\u2019s EU presidency, leaders from across the bloc will be descending on Ireland for a series of events and meetings across the second half of the year.<\/p>\n

While Mr McGrath said the agenda and locations of visits are largely determined by the Irish Government, he expected to see key EU players in the South East.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt that there will be events and occasions for European leaders and for EU commissioners like myself to be here more often and to see the real-world impact on the ground of decisions that we are making, but also an opportunity to listen to stakeholders and listen to citizens about what they think we should be doing on the EU policy front,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose of us who are Irish citizens are also EU citizens, and we do help to shape and influence EU policy, and I think it’s an opportunity that we should all seize.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"European Commissioner Michael McGrath championed SETU as a vital backbone in Ireland\u2019s democracy while speaking at the university…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-431891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}