Dublin City Council is teaming up with third level colleges in the city to attract international students to come here and study.
International scholarships to the Dublin universities and Institutes of Technology will all now be called Lord Mayor of Dublin International Scholarships in order to foster closer links with the city.
The Lord Mayor will personally welcome students on the new scholarships to Dublin and the City Council will interact with them to help make their stay in Dublin a productive, happy and memorable one. On completing their studies, students will be presented with a city scroll, acknowledging their contribution to Dublin.
Launching the initiative today, Lord Mayor Eibhlin Byrne said Dublin "needed to get its share" of the international education sector.
"International students from countries outside of the EU contribute over €500 million annually to the Irish economy", she said.
"It's a growing and important market and Dublin needs to get its share. Melbourne, a similar sized city to Dublin, earns over €2 billion annually from the same market. It's all about branding. It makes sense for the city to promote Dublin and support the marketing initiatives of the third level colleges."
Robert Flood, DIT's head of international affairs, estimates that every 100 students living in Dublin support 15 local jobs in phone companies, supermarkets, shops, restaurants and other services.
"Between DIT and TCD alone that equates to 214 jobs and over €14 million to the local economy in Dublin city," he said.
Peter Finnegan of Dublin City Council said Dublin's third level institutions needed to market themselves better internationally.
"Research shows that students often pick the country and city of destination before deciding on the institution or programme of study or research they wish to undertake," he said.
"The Lord Mayor of Dublin International Scholarships will provide the branding identification of international education with the city of Dublin and we are confident it will have a positive effect on our marketing efforts."