Leadership

Ireland’s diplomatic network abroad is to be expanded with the addition of five embassies and three new consulates. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the proposed expansion of the embassy network is specifically designed to support Ireland’s foreign trade and inward investment, and takes account of the soon-to-be published review of the Government’s trade, tourism and investment strategy. It said embassies will be established for the first time in the fast-growing economies of Thailand (Bangkok) and Indonesia (Jakarta). Consulates general are to be established in the financial and business hubs of Hong Kong (China) and Sao Paolo (Brazil), and in the tech hub of Austin, Texas (USA). The…

NUI Galway and Intel are to work together on research in the areas of high performance computing (HPC) and big data analytics. As part of the new agreement, the two will establish the Intel Parallel Computing Centre in the Irish Centre for High End Computing (ICHEC) in NUI Galway. The new centre aims to significantly improve parallelism, scalability and efficiencies of existing high performance computing applications. Intel will fund the research programme led by director of the ICHEC, Prof JC Desplat. The programme will foster the uptake of current and next generation Intel many core technology, such as the Intel Xeon Phi co-processor. “Intel is pleased to expand our Intel…

Three new members have been appointed to the board of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), including Ann Riordan as chairperson along with Geraldine Ruane and Aidan Donnelly. Minister for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock TD said their appointments would bring “fresh industry perspective” to the work performed at board level in order to enable SFI to meet its Agenda 2020 objectives. Riordan said: “I am particularly excited about the role SFI can play in enabling Ireland to gain international global advantage in the areas where Ireland has research and industry strengths and further potential. “As an early evangelist of the economic benefits that knowledge based industries can contribute to the country’s…

Fidelma Healy, chief operating officer at Gilt, talks about her career path and about the importance of working hard, doing a good job and not being afraid to self promote. Could you tell us a bit about your career path and what your role involves now? I trained as a teacher but with permanent jobs in short supply studied computers and human resources by night.  This led me into a career in the financial services and ICT sectors.  My first job was in a HR role in Systems Dynamics, Ireland’s longest established software company, and I then went on to be involved in establishing new tech companies in Ireland including…

University College Dublin is today officially opening what it says is Ireland’s first purpose-built university law school, following a €25m investment. Designed by Molony O’Beirne architects, the UCD Sutherland School of Law measures over 5,100 square metres and is located on the edge of a newly designed and landscaped lakeside setting on the Belfield campus. The €25m project was financed from a major leadership gift from Peter Sutherland SC, significant government investment under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013, and gifts from other leading benefactors, major law firms and private donors. According to UCD, teaching spaces in the new school are designed to promote the active engagement of students…

University College Dublin (UCD) will showcase the latest hi-tech and knowledge intensive ventures emerging from UCD and National College of Art and Design (NCAD) research programmes at the 2013 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Showcase and Awards evening, which takes place next week. Six new ventures will compete at the awards evening to win a €25,000 prize. Four of the participating ventures – Aficionado, Fondúireacht Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore Foundation), Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd and Nuritas Ltd – are emerging from UCD, while the other two – Gazel and Obeo – are emerging from NCAD. The overall objective of the UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme is to support the creation and to accelerate…

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD and the Minister of State for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock TD have welcomed the publication of the report of the independent Copyright Review Committee, entitled ‘Modernising Copyright’. The report is aimed at identifying any barriers for innovation in the digital environment, and developing proposals for reducing them in order to provide greater support for growth and jobs in the digital industry. The publication of the report marks delivery of a key commitment in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs. Minister Bruton and Minister Sherlock now propose that the recommendations of the report will be carefully examined with other departments…

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School’s Executive MBA programme has been ranked 81st in the 2013 Financial Times Global Executive MBA Rankings, published today. UCD Smurfit School improved its position from 88th in the world and has a ranking of 75th over three years. It is one of fewer than 50 schools worldwide to have been consistently ranked over the last 13 years.  “As Ireland’s global business school, we are proud to, once again, have the quality of our MBA programme recognised in these prominent rankings,” said Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, dean of UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. “As the only Irish business school to have its programmes ranked,…

Irish software engineering research centre Lero has appointed Prof Brian Fitzgerald as its chief scientist. Prof Fitzgerald holds the Frederick A Krehbiel II Chair in Innovation in Global Business and Technology at the University of Limerick, where he was also vice-president for research from 2008 to 2011. He is a Lero principal investigator and was founding director of the Lero Graduate School in Software Engineering. He was formerly at University College Cork, and has held visiting positions in Italy, Austria, Sweden, US and the UK. He holds a PhD from the University of London and his research interests lie primarily in software development, encompassing development methods, global software development, agile…

Two women have been appointed as Supreme Court judges by President Michael D Higgins – Justice Mary Laffoy and Justice Elizabeth Dunne, both former High Court judges. The appointments mean that Chief Justice Susan Denham is no longer the only female judge in the Supreme Court. Four of the most senior justice positions in the State are now held by women for the first time – the others being director of public prosecutions Claire Loftus, Attorney General Maire Whelan and chief State solicitor Eileen Creedon. Justices Laffoy and Dunne were sworn in yesterday at Áras an Uachtaráin at a ceremony attended by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD, Minister for Justice…