Ireland’s 2025 results

Ireland recorded mixed results in the 2025 Horizon Europe Cluster 3 “Civil Security for Society” call. Overall, there were 15 Irish participations across 12 successful proposals, securing 2% of the total funding allocated. These figures may change if projects on the reserve list receive funding.

Against intense competition, a notable Irish success was “Amplifying whole-of-society disaster preparedness through artistic, creative and cultural engagement” (AMPLIFY), coordinated by Lydia Cumiskey at University College Cork. The project also included Art Gallery UCD Ltd and Cork City Council.

Cluster 3 is organised into six ‘destinations’: Disaster-Resilient Societies (DRS), Fight against Crime and Terrorism (FCT), Border Management (BM), Resilient Infrastructure (INFRA), Support to Security Research and Innovation (SSRI), and Increased Cybersecurity (CS). Irish funding success was broadly distributed across all but CS. The first five destinations are managed by DG HOME, while CS is managed by DG CNECT.

Other notable successes included Maura Conway of Dublin City University as a partner in “Anticipating and countering fluid criminal and violent extremism” (ONLIVES); Anca Jurcut of University College Dublin in “AI-Based System for the Detection of Viral Misinformation through Social Media Analysis” (TRUTHAWARE); and An Garda Síochána in “Financial Intelligence & Tracking for European Counter Terrorism” (FINTERCEPT). All three projects fell within the DG HOME-managed destinations. Overall, Irish participants secured 3.08% of the funding awarded across those destinations.

Interpretation of the results

In the DG CNECT-managed cybersecurity destination,  Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Europe accounted for Ireland’s only successful participation, securing 0.19% of the funding awarded under that destination. This was a disappointing result that significantly diminished Ireland’s overall performance.

Several factors may have contributed to this outcome. Annual results are inherently volatile, and the cybersecurity destination was heavily oversubscribed. Possible reasons for the high application volume include constrained national research budgets and the reduced effort required to prepare initial drafts using LLMs, although the effect of AI-assisted writing on submission volumes remains uncertain. Eligibility restrictions affecting the multinational sector reduced Irish participation.

Lessons for applicants

How, then, can applicants improve their prospects? Aside from vital early engagement with practitioners, a critical success factor is to start early, as a rule of thumb, at least 6 months in advance of the deadline. Many start much earlier. This is especially true if you have limited experience with EU programmes. Don’t wait for formal call announcements.

Used appropriately, LLMs can support proposal development by gathering and structuring information and reviewing drafts against relevant Horizon Europe requirements. Their use must comply with applicable confidentiality, data-protection and organisational policies, and all outputs require expert verification. They are best treated as tools that supplement rather than replace human judgement, subject knowledge and consortium input.

Applicants should assess the competitive landscape before committing resources. This includes likely oversubscription, the strength of existing networks and the extent to which prospective competitors may have shaped the topic. Where the odds are unusually poor, a decision not to apply may be justified.

Outlook beyond 2027

The 2027 call is expected to be the final call before the EU enters its next Multiannual Financial Framework, covering 2028–2034. Under current European Commission proposals, FP10 and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) would be closely linked. Activities now covered by Cluster 3 “Civil Security for Society” would sit under the broader heading “Resilience and Security, Defence Industry and Space” in both instruments. The Commission has proposed approximately €116 billion for this area under the ECF and a much smaller allocation of around €6 billion under FP10. These figures may change during negotiations, but the overall policy direction appears unlikely to reverse.