Irish University Bill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Irish University Bill formed part of the panorama of initiatives to provide more adequate provision of university education in Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Bill was announced by British Prime Minister William Gladstone in February 1873. It proposed to establish a new single university, based in Dublin, that would comprise Catholic and other colleges without public endowment as well as Trinity College, Dublin and two of the then Queen's Colleges, the latter three with their endowments continued. It was defeated in 1873 by an adverse majority of three votes in the House of Commons, having foundered because of a combination of interests by opposing parties.

A related Bill with different provisions did pass in 1879 under the Disraeli administration.