Speaking at the Griffith Geoscience Seminar today, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Energy Sean Power TD, commended the successful applicants in the Griffith Geoscience Research Awards Programme and outlined the economic importance of geoscience in Ireland.
Geoscience and “earth sciences” fundamentally permit the sustainable management of our environment, the development of our natural resources and infrastructure, and allow us to understand and predict natural hazards.
Under the National Geoscience Programme 2007-2013, a Programme launched jointly by the Royal Irish Academy and the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), the Government created the Griffith Geoscience Research Awards, which commenced last year. A total of nine contracts were awarded at a cost of €9. 2 million. These involve research groups in universities and other third level institutions on the island of Ireland.
Minister Power said, “Not only does geoscience assist researchers and academics, but its contribution to the construction industry, to our engineers, in archaeology and science is immense. It is worth €2billion annually to the Irish economy.
This level of economic contribution, however, can unfortunately sometimes go unnoticed. I think that this year, with the the International Year of Planet Earth information campaign in full swing, is an appropriate time to promote the role of geoscience to the Irish economy, and give deserved recognition to those involved in the sector.
The Government has committed to investing a total of €43 million over the next seven years in the geoscience sector and I believe we can make Ireland an internationally renowned destination for geoscience research.
I am delighted to be here today to speak with the participants and I commend them for the significant work they are undertaking in terms of geoscience research. This research will be the bedrock of future infrastructural projects, and will be of the utmost import to the economy.”
ENDS
Note to editors:
The seminar afforded an opportunity for the research groups to meet together and provide a progress report on what they have achieved in the past year and what they hope to achieve in the years ahead. It also provided an opportunity for the research groups to interact with each other and develop possible synergies.
The following are the 9 contractors :-
- Biogeoscience Research Group, National University of Ireland Galway.
Contact: Dr. Colin Brown email: Colin.Brown@nuigalway.ie Tel: +353 (0)91 492691 Website: www.nuigalway.ie
- Marine and Petroleum Geology Research Group, University College Dublin.
Contact: Prof. Pat Shannon email: p.shannon@ucd.ieTel: +353 (0)1 162331
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/geology/research/marine.html
- Geophysics Group, University College Dublin.
Contact: Prof. Chris Bean email: Chris.bean@ucd.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 7162140
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/geology/research/geophysics.html
- Geophysics Research Group, University of Ulster.
Contact: Prof. John McCloskey email: j.mccloskey@ulster.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)28 70 324428 Website: http://www.science.ulster.ac.uk/geophys/
- Groundwater Research Group, Queen’s University Belfast.
Contact: Dr. Gerard Hamill email: g.a.hamill@qub.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)48 9097 4197 Website: http://www.qub.ac.uk/eerc/
- Coastal and Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork.
Contact: Dr. Valerie Cummins email: v.cummins@ucc.ie Tel: +353 (0)21 4703100 Website: http://www.ucc.ie/research/crc/
- Irish Geoscience Graduate Programme, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
Contact: Prof. Alan Jones email: alan@cp.dias.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 662 1333
Website: http://www.dias.ie/index.php?section=cosmic&subsection=index
- Geoschol Group, Trinity College Dublin
Contact: Dr. Patrick Wyse Jackson email: wysjcknp@tcd.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 8961477 Website: http://www.tcd.ie/Geology/MAIN-PAGE/museum.php
Contact : Mr Des Burke
Email : djburke@indigo.ie or stephenaherne@eircom.net