Press release
Tánaiste and Minister O’Donovan Welcome CERN Taskforce to Ireland
From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Published on
Last updated on
The Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan TD have welcomed a Taskforce from the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, to Ireland.
CERN is an international research organisation focused on experimental particle physics and is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research.
The Taskforce is here to evaluate Ireland’s application for Associate Membership of the organisation.
Over the course of two days, they will meet with Government officials as well as representatives from Ireland’s higher education institutions, enterprise, research and innovation communities.
This morning, the Taskforce met the Tánaiste and Minister O’Donovan, who both expressed strong support for Ireland’s ambition to join CERN.
Speaking today, the Tánaiste said:
“CERN is an inspiring example of international cooperation. Ireland’s application for associate membership fits with our ambition for strengthened international collaborations and global partnerships that is at the heart of the Global Ireland strategy.
“Membership of CERN will bring research, industry, skills, science outreach, and international cooperation benefits to Ireland. This visit has been an invaluable opportunity to showcase our world class research and innovation community and highlight the significant contribution that Ireland’s researchers and businesses can bring to CERN.”
Minister O’Donovan said:
“It has been a pleasure to welcome the CERN Taskforce to Ireland as the next step towards Associate Membership. Associate Membership would open doors for Ireland’s researchers to collaborate on particle physics experiments taking place on a global scale.
“Ireland will also take advantage of CERN’s wide range of training opportunities where students and professional researchers develop their skills while working with world-class colleagues.
“The visit itinerary has been put together to demonstrate that Ireland is ready not only to benefit from CERN membership, but also to contribute to CERN’s work through our unique capabilities in research and industry.”
Joining CERN will open doors for Ireland’s researchers to participate in CERN’s scientific programmes and will make Irish citizens eligible for staff positions, fellowships and formal training schemes.
These include masters and PhD programmes, apprenticeships, a graduate engineering training scheme, internships for computer scientists and engineers, and technical training experience.
These skills will be developed beyond what is possible in Ireland and are in industry-relevant areas such as electronics, photonics, materials, energy systems and software.
Membership will also allow Ireland’s enterprises to compete in CERN procurement programmes. Much of CERN’s instrumentation and equipment requires the development or exploitation of novel technologies, which spurs enterprise innovation. Many of these technologies have applications in other spheres such as medicine, space, energy and ICT.
CERN is an intergovernmental organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. CERN is the leading global collaboration investigating the fundamental composition of matter. It was established in 1954 and straddles the Franco-Swiss border, just outside Geneva. CERN currently has 23 Member States (including most of the EU Member States) and has co-operation agreements with over 40 other states.
The main focus of activity in CERN is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is an underground ring which is 27km in circumference in which protons, one of the constituent particles of an atom, are accelerated to 99.9999991% of the speed of light and collided into one another. The Large Hadron Collider was used to discover the Higgs boson in 2012. CERN also plays a leading role in promoting and organising international cooperation in scientific research
The CERN Convention specifically stipulates that CERN “shall have no concern with work for military requirements and the results of its experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available.” CERN has, from its establishment, been prohibited from any involvement in the development of nuclear weapons and has a long-established history of non-proliferation. The practical scientific outcomes of CERN research are focused on the development of revolutionary healthcare advances (new cancer treatments) and other new technologies.
The expected financial commitment is circa EUR 1.9 million per annum, for an initial period of 5 years. After five years both Ireland and CERN will work together to consider the best membership options for Ireland.