The Irish Universities’ Association (IUA) (Irish: Cumann Ollscoileanna Éireann) is the representative body of the eight universities within the Republic of Ireland and is based at NUI offices in Merrion Square, Dublin.
In 1972, the five Heads of the universities in Ireland at that time decided to establish a conference to provide a forum for joint action on matters of common concern.
The Association was created in the late 1970s as the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) (Irish: Comhghairm Cheannairí Ollscoileanna Éireann) and formally incorporated in 1997 with charitable status and adopted its current name in 2005.
The IUA is a "Collective Full Member" of the European University Association.
[2] Technological University Dublin formally joined on 1 June 2021[update].