The Marine Institute headquarters and laboratory facility at Oranmore, Co. Galway was honoured today (25th March) by a visit by both the US and UK Ambassadors to Ireland, The Honorable Mr. Daniel M. Rooney and His Excellency Julian King.
Photo: The US Ambassador to Ireland, the Honorable Mr. Daniel M. Rooney Dr. Peter Heffernan CEO of the Marine Institute and the UK Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Julian King.
The two senior diplomats toured the facility in the company of the Marine Institute’s Chief Executive Dr. Peter Heffernan where they received briefings on marine biotechnology, salmon migration, underwater observatories and a number of projects undertaken in collaboration with Queen’s University of Belfast. Information was included on Institute’s role in facilitating research and innovation in support of Ireland’s emerging marine renewable energy sector using ‘SMART’ technology.
The ambassadors were also introduced to the “Real Map of Ireland” – a high resolution, three-dimensional model of Ireland’s 220 million acre seabed territory, as defined by the Irish National Seabed Survey and its inshore component INFOMAR, which included the mapping of the seabed around Northern Ireland in the Joint Irish Bathymetric Project (JIBS).
“We are delighted that both ambassadors were able to take time from their busy schedules to visit us and to learn how cutting-edge science is being applied to the sustainable development of Ireland’s greatest natural resource – our oceans and seas,” said Dr. Heffernan. “Ever since the foundation of the Institute in 1991 we have enjoyed close co-operation with both countries - across the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. This visit gave us a chance to show the ambassadors some of the fruits of those projects and lay foundations for new collaborations in the future.”
Earlier this week, the Institute was host to the Workshop “SMARTOCEAN IRELAND – Harnessing Ireland’s Potential as a European and Global Centre for Ocean Technologies” which was attended by EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation Ms. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Minister Tony Killeen. The Workshop heard how the Marine Institute is working on a major technological cluster initiative including a number of US multinationals and has already successfully launched the SmartBay project in Galway Bay with IBM, Intel and a number of other partners to create a ‘Smart’ monitoring system for our inshore waters. A major project on Biodiscovery under the Sea Change research and innovation strategy is being conducted jointly with Queen’s University in Belfast and Irish scientists regularly collaborate with their UK counterparts on joint projects and scientific working groups on fisheries science.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Dr. John Joyce – Marine Institute
087 2250871
Notes to Editor
The Marine Institute
The Marine Institute was created under the Marine Institute Act in 1991 to “undertake, to co-ordinate, to promote and to assist” in the development of marine research and development in Ireland. Since its early days in Harcourt Street Dublin, it has grown into an internationally respected science body with, two purpose-built vessels – RV Celtic Explorer and RV Celtic Voyager - and a research facility near Newport, Co. Mayo. Its headquarters and main laboratory facilities are at Oranmore on the shores of Galway Bay.
Sea Change
Sea Change – A Marine Knowledge and Information Strategy 2007 – 2013 seeks to strengthen the competitiveness and environmental sustainability of the marine sector by developing greater alignment between the needs of industry and the research capacity of the public sector and the third level.
The Strategy aims to build multidisciplinary research capacity and capability that can be applied to marine-related activities, leading to the acquisition of new technical skills, improved flow of expert personnel between the research community and industry and the creation of new commercial opportunities. Sea Change also delivers a comprehensive planned policy support research measure to apply the knowledge gained from research and monitoring to inform public policy, governance and regulation.
SMARTBAY
The SmartBay project in Galway Bay consists of a number of buoys each supporting an array of advanced ocean sensors to collect and transmit real time information on ocean conditions that will benefit scientists, commercial fishermen, fish farmers, environmental monitoring agencies and the general public. This information, which previously could only be collected by actually going to sea, is beamed by radio to the Marine Institute’s headquarters at Oranmore. This information can then by used to analyse and guide coastal zone management plans, as well as advising commercial fishermen, fish farmers and water users of all kinds.
SmartBay is also the test bed for a much more ambitious project to extend these systems out over Ireland’s continental shelf and down into the sunless depths of the abyssal ocean plain some three and a half kilometres below the surface.
The Beaufort Biodiscovery Project – Queen’s University of Belfast
The Beaufort Biodiscovery Project is a major element of Ireland’s developing marine biotechnology research activity, with significant progress already being reported on projects examining materials from algae, sponges, barnacles and marine bacteria.
The Irish National Seabed Survey, INFOMAR and JIBS
The Marine Institute has worked in partnership with the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) on the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS), on a multimillion European initiative supported by the Irish government, to map Ireland's 220 million acres of territorial seafloor, a natural resource that is approximately ten times the size of Ireland's land area. Phase One of the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS) is now complete, and the project is currently in Phase Two: the Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland's Marine Resources (INFOMAR). While Phase One concentrated on outer deep-sea territorial waters, Phase Two has moved inshore to coastal waters. INFOMAR aims to map the remaining 13% of the Irish territorial seafloor, concentrating on specific areas of interest such as priority bays and areas of biological interest.. INFOMAR is managed jointly by the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute and is overseen by the INFOMAR Programme Board. It follows on from the Irish National Seabed Survey which together with an earlier PAD survey mapped over 81 per cent of the Irish designated seabed area by the end of 2005.
The Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Project was led by the MCA Maritime and Coastguard Agency in partnership with the Marine Institute of Ireland. This €2.1m joint venture was entirely funded by the EU from their INTERREG Programme, which was co-ordinated by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.
UK Marine Energy Action Plan
Harnessing the full potential of marine energy could provide enough power for up to 15million homes and save up to 70 million tonnes of C02 by 2050 according to the UK Government’s Marine Energy Action Plan which was announced on 15th March. The document also highlights the potential for the marine energy sector to provide up to 16,000 jobs, with a quarter of these in exports.
See: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_042/pn10_042.aspx