Leadership

Ireland is set to become the first country in the European Union to introduce legislation on plain packaging for tobacco products. The Government has approved the publication of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014 and the presentation of the Bill in the Seanad. “Ireland will be the first country in the European Union to introduce such legislation and the third country worldwide,” said  Minister for Health James Reilly. “Australia introduced plain packaging legislation in November 2011 and the New Zealand Bill had its first reading in Parliament on 11 February this year. I understand that other EU countries are also considering such legislation. “This represents a significant…

A team of secondary school students from Limerick City have won third place at a European Space Agency competition in Norway. The Crescent College Comprehensive team joined students from 14 countries across Europe in the competition to build a CanSat – a simulation of a real satellite integrated within the volume of a soft drinks can – which was then launched by rocket to a height of 1km. The test for teams was to include all the major subsystems found in a satellite, such as power, sensors and a communication system. At launch stage this week, the primary mission was to measure temperature and air pressure and transmit the data…

Outgoing CEO of Bord Iascaigh Mhara Jason Whooley is to head up Bio-marine Ingredients Ireland (BII) in Killybegs, Co Donegal from next September. BII is a €35m project which will result in the creation of up to 50 jobs during the construction phase and a further 70 direct and indirect jobs when it intends to go into full production in 2016. It was formed as a result of a joint venture between the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation and Norwegian pharmaceutical and marine biotech experts Biomarine Science Technology. “We intend BII to position Ireland as a global leader in marine ingredients,” said BII chairman Martin Howley. “With somebody of the vision and…

Six National College of Art and Design (NCAD) students have achieved recognition at the RSA Student Design Awards, which are run each year by the Royal Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in London. Previous winners include Sir Jonathan Ive, RDI, the senior vice-president of design at Apple; Richard Clarke, global vice-president of Design at Nike; and Paul Priestman, founder of global travel and transport design consultancy Priestmangoode. All six Irish student winners are studying product design at NCAD.  In the ‘Tomorrow’s Workplace’ category, sponsored by RBS, James Donnellan and Kevin Glynn won the overall award for ‘Best Design Project’ for ‘The Hatchery’, a methodology manifested through a…

Alan Duffy has been appointed as chief executive officer for Ireland at HSBC, eight years since he joined the organisation to help establish its corporate banking business. With effect from 16 May, Duffy will be responsible for HSBC’s corporate banking, securities services (funds administration) and insurance businesses in Ireland, which together employ 450 people. He replaces Stephen Young who is returning to HSBC in the UK and will report to Chris Davies CEO, International Europe. “Our securities services business has cemented its place as a key hub for HSBC’s European operations, transitioning HSBC business from New York, Bermuda and Guernsey in recent years and reaching the $105bn assets under management…

A limited edition €20 gold proof coin commemorating the 1,000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf was launched yesterday and is available to purchase from today. Designed by Irish artist and sculptor Noel Hoare, the coin shows the Irish High King Brian Ború. The issue limit for the coin is 12,000 pieces. Its diameter is 11mm, it weighs 0.5 grammes and is struck in .999 fine gold. The purchase price is €48 and it can be bought from the Central Bank . Grainne Rothery

Up to 20 novel medical technologies are expected to be commercialised and 10 spin-out companies created in Ireland over the next five years thanks to a US$16m collaboration between Enterprise Ireland and the Mayo Clinic in the US. An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD witnessed the signing of the agreement by Jeff Bolton, vice president of the Mayo Clinic and Dr Keith O’Neill, director life sciences commercialisation, Enterprise Ireland in Dublin today (10 April). He said it was highly significant from an economic perspective and built on an Irish connection with Mayo Clinic extending back to the 19th century when the founders of the Mayo Clinic, brothers Will and Charlie Mayo,…

The first ever TEDxFulbrightDublin took place in Smock Alley Theatre on Saturday and took the theme ‘Creativity and Innovation’ ahead of World Creativity and Innovation Week, which begins on 15 April. Hosted by the Fulbright Commission, the event attracted speakers and performers from around the world, including Sweden, the US, and the UK. TED, which started in 1984 as a conference on technology, entertainment, and design, seeks to share good ideas on all topics through short, but contagious, talks. TEDx is the platform for local organizers to create their own TED-style event.TEDxFulbrightDublin was conceived by Dr. Lorcan Walsh, a Fulbright alumnus who went to Harvard University, to reconnect with the…

The 10th international James Dyson Award was launched at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) this morning. Dyson engineer Nick Schneider from Dyson UK headquarters addressed the TCD School of Engineering and challenged students to think differently to solve problems at a special invention workshop. They will compete with students from 18 countries worldwide to win the top prize of €36,000 and a further €12,000 for their university. The total prize fund this year is £100,000 (€120,000). Speaking at today’s launch, Prof Gareth J Bennett from the School of Engineering said excellence in design innovation is the solution to Ireland’s troubled economy. “Engineering students are naturally creative. Our job is to provide…

Researchers at Tyndall National Institute in Cork are partnering with scientists from the US and Northern Ireland on a €1m project aimed at unlocking the energy in water. The project aims to use semiconductor materials and sunlight to isolate energy-laden hydrogen in water by replicating processes found in nature. Entitled ‘Research into Emerging Nanostructured Electrodes for the Splitting of Water’ (RENEW), it is being led by Prof Martyn Pemble and Dr Paul Hurley at Tyndall, Prof Paul McIntyre at Stanford University and Prof Andrew Mills at Queen’s University Belfast. Borrowing from electronics, the researchers will first seek to create the optimum ‘artificial leaf’ using layers of semiconducting materials such as…