Online learning is an idea whose time has come. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic it was predicted that the global value of the online education market would reach €290 billion by 2025 (McCue, 2018). This figure is likely to have increased significantly in 2020 due to campus closures as teaching continued online. Thus, the demand for online learning is enormous and growing, even though it currently makes up less than 2% of the overall higher education market (HolonIQ, 2020). The Covid-19 crisis has shown policy-makers and educational leaders that new models of online learning provide a means to widen access and participation in higher education. The debate surrounding the development of online learning in Ireland for promoting access and participation in lifelong learning more generally appears to be largely aspirational in the absence of a strong policy commitment and funding model to resource fully online programmes. Set against this backdrop, this doctoral study aims to investigate a perceived gap between rhetoric, policy and practice in promoting wider access to higher education in Ireland. It involves three phases: - Phase 1 (macro-level) consists of an analysis of relevant International policy texts; - Phase 2 (meso-level) involves an analysis of Irish policy texts and institutional online learning strategies and initiatives through publicly available documentation; and - Phase 3 (micro-level) adopts a case study method to “tell the story of the development of online learning” at one Irish university. The main research findings are: - Defining online learning is problematic. The research demonstrates that a clear, universally agreed, definition of what constitutes online learning, understood by the sector and policy makers, does not exist. - Economic factors are the most influential drivers (and barriers) in the adoption of online learning in policy texts. Social and vocational drivers have influence, however, the most important driver is economic. Notably the pedagogical drivers for online learning in policy texts are relatively weak. - Good policy emanates from a collaborative process which is inclusive, transparent, and credible. In order for policy to be effective and successful, all relevant stakeholders must be encouraged to contribute in a meaningful way, through a clear process. Future development of policy for online learning in Ireland needs to be more cognisant of these requirements.