A SENIOR Irish politician has said rejoining the Erasmus scheme would help Scotland maintain strong links with the European Union and would be “extremely welcome”.

Neale Richmond, a Fine Gael TD for Dublin and critic of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, said he was heartened to read that the Scottish Government was looking at possible ways to continue to participate in the scheme. The programme, which began in 1987, gives financial assistance to students from across Europe to take part in exchange programmes in other countries. Around 2000 Scottish students and lecturers take part in the scheme every year.

It is open to all EU nations and several non-members and during the trade negotiations the European Commission was open to the UK continuing to be a member,.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson opted to leave the programme and establish a new post-Brexit international student exchange scheme to be named after the codebreaker Alan Turing.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week said the decision was “cultural vandalism” by the UK Government.

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“It was a massive disappointment to see in the Brexit deal that the UK Government has opted out of the Erasmus Plus scheme,” Richmond told The National.

“As has been long flagged, the Irish Government has agreed to cover the costs of students and institutions in Northern Ireland to allow them to continue to avail of this wonderful programme set up by Irishman Peter Sutherland when he was commissioner.

“I was heartened to read that Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government are looking at ways that Scotland can continue to participate in Erasmus too. This would be extremely welcome.”

He added: “Scottish third level institutions are some of the finest in Europe and are much sought after places of study for many Europeans either for a year through Erasmus or much more.

“For Irish students in particular, spending a year in a Scottish university is a very popular option, particularly with students of Gaelic. Ireland and Scotland have a really strong bilateral relationship across a number of key areas, higher education is one of these.

“If Scotland were able to continue to participate in Erasmus, this would be a huge boost to this relationship and indeed Scotland’s continuing relationship with the EU.”

The Scottish Government’s universities minister Richard Lochhead yesterday described the decision by the UK Government to withdraw from the Erasmus programme as “a huge blow” and said ministers were looking at “alternative options”.

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He said: “The loss of Erasmus is a huge blow. This is simply unacceptable and we are looking at alternative options. After years of discussions and meetings, the UK Government has made these decisions irrespective of the views of the devolved administrations.”

Scottish Government figures suggest the value of Erasmus to the economy has been estimated to be nearly £34 million annually since 2014.

While students in Scotland will be prevented from participating, those in Northern Ireland will still have access to the programme because of Irish Government support.

Lochhead was also critical of the Turing alternative, adding: “We found out from media reports more details of the UK’s alternative scheme which is a watered-down and less well-funded version of Erasmus and it’s not even an exchange programme because there is no support for visits to Scotland.

“I have since spoken to my UK counterpart and expressed our profound disappointment that the UK chose to abandon Erasmus which plays such a key role in opening up opportunities and horizons for so many young Scots.”

In January, Johnson assured MPs there was “no threat to the Erasmus scheme”.