A Trinity lecturer has slammed another leading Irish university for making a false claim that it is Ireland's best university.

Dr Gerald Morgan from Trinity has urged University College Dublin (UCD) to clarify why it is dubbing itself "Ireland's Premier University" on its website, when it is only ranked the second-best university in Ireland.

On the welcome note to UCD on Google, the university quotes itself as "Ireland's premier University, a 35 school institution with over 20000 students".

But in the world rankings of universities, UCD is at 89 while Trinity College Dublin is at 43.

"It's a great achievement for Trinity to be 43 and for UCD to say it's the premier university at 89...it's for them to clarify what they mean, and it's very important that we know who the best people are. We've got to make it right."

He added: "Of all our institutions, universities above all cannot be seen publicly to be promoting falsehoods.

"We shall lose credibility on the international stage if that is seen to be the case."

Mr Morgan, from the Department of English in Trinity, is asking UCD to clarify why it considers itself to be the best university in Ireland, when the rankings suggest otherwise.

"I expect UCD to clarify its position on this issue as a matter of courtesy to all of us in Ireland," he stressed. "It can't be right and it doesn't help anyone if it's not right."

Trinity has in the past 10 years been ranked the top university in Ireland, according to the lecturer. It is UCD's first time to enter the top 100.

He added: "Trinity could say that it is the premier university but it wouldn't because it would be a discourtesy to the other universities."

The lecturer stressed that these are his own views and not those of his university, and he does not want to create "world war three" between the two universities.

"We don't want to squabble among ourselves but we don't want to make claims which are untrue because it's absurd.

"The league table is the best method we have of knowing which is the best university, and no other university [apart from TCD and UCD], not even Queen's, is in the top 200.

"We ought to applaud the achievements of both universities but you can't make statements that you can't stand over."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from UCD said: "It's possible to have two leading universities in Ireland, just the same as it's possible to have two or three top athletes in a country.

"UCD works closely with Trinity, and a new innovation alliance has been set up with Trinity recently. It's a major move between two universities to work together."

hnews@herald.ie

- Geraldine Gittens