Research that relates to development education currently comprises a very minor part of the overall research landscape, with relatively little funded and published research on the area. There has been a recent expansion in research, primarily funded by Irish Aid in pursuit of a strategic development education programme. This article reviews the more general trends in research, recognizing that these trends will have an impact on development education. At present, the emerging landscape is complex and research about Irish development education is at a very early stage. Our approach in this paper is to initiate a critical debate by documenting some of the challenges facing all educators and researchers, including development educators.