Ireland’s universities have reversed a trend of falling in international rankings relative to their peers. Ireland’s universities began their slide just before the 2008 crisis. The impact of austerity was clearly visible. Trinity College Dublin fell out of the top 100 universities in the world. The slide has stopped it seems, with 7 of the 8 universities ranked improving their ranking places. The University of Limerick, for example, jumped 100 places, and Trinity College jumped 17 places. Trinity is now firmly in the top 100. This is not just welcome news, it is vital. There is now strong evidence university…