Abstract
This study presents research from the Irish context where the national strategy on internationalisation and the strategy documents of two case study universities were analysed using a framework for introducing an intercultural dialogue (ICD) approach to internationalisation. This approach illustrated differences at strategic and curricular levels and at the level of core values between the national and local strategy documents. It is suggested that in order to promote an intercultural dialogue approach, the structural context (both national and local) in which the internationalisation of higher education takes place must be interrogated and accompanied by the allocation of adequate resources to create the conditions necessary at national and local levels to operationalize such an approach in a meaningful way.