Trinity College has called on the government to work closer with Irish universities.

Trinity College Dublin's position in an international university rankings table has slipped significantly after dropping 44 places in the World University Rankings on Wednesday. The university is now rated as 164th best in the world in the Times Higher Education list falling from the 120th spot in last year's rankings. TCD is the only Irish representative in the top 200 universities as UCD, Queens University Belfast and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland ranked between 201 and 250 - with the remaining Irish colleges ranking lower than that. The college has said the "disappointing" decline is relative to other countries' investment in education. In a statement on Wednesday, Trinity College Dublin called on the government to work with universities to develop a national strategy on rankings to reverse the slide in rankings witnessed in many Irish universities over the past decade. “It also follows de-funding of investigator-led research funding to universities, having an impact on publication output and innovation. A similar fall next year would mean that no university in Ireland would be ranked in the top 200 by Times Higher Education,” the university said. The Times Higher Education World University rankings are published annually and measure and compare the performance of institutions from around the world using a variety of measurements. You can find the full list and more information on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings here.