Irish universities have failed to impress in the latest world university rankings.
For the first time ever, not one Irish third level college is featured within the top 100 in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Trinity College is down 41 places to 117, while the slump for UCD is even worse - down 65 places to 159.
It is believed university presidents will now put pressure on the Government to re-introduce college fees in an effort to deal with the funding crisis in third level facilities.
The California Institute of Technology is ranked as the world’s leading higher education college ahead of Harvard and Stanford which share second place.