We meet here today at the beginning of a prosperous new era of maritime exploration and exploitation. We stand on the cusp of new discoveries and innovation, once unimaginable, in areas such as marine energy, fisheries, transport and biology.
Like the first Irish sailors who looked out at the ocean and saw a new pathway to the rest of the world, we are now only beginning to comprehend the opportunities the sea can offer us. It’s time we grabbed that opportunity with both hands.
Therefore, it is a pleasure to be here on the occasion of the formal launch of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster, IMERC.
The IMERC partnership between University College Cork, the Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service, is a brilliant effort aimed at bringing together researchers, teaching staff, and naval service personnel alike, on the development of an ecosystem of innovation, in the maritime sector.
We must do more to take better advantage of our expansive maritime resources and that is why I am particularly happy that a number of public institutions have reached out and taken these steps.
IMERC is an initiative that demonstrates the ability of our public institutions to respond to the national interest. IMERC is characterised by the way that these three institutions are mobilising their best minds to focus on new research and economic opportunities for maritime Ireland.
The leaders of these institutions Dr. Michael Murphy, President of UCC, Dr. Brendan Murphy, President of CIT and Commodore Mark Mellett, Flag Officer in Command of the Naval Service, have done a tremendous job in bringing this about.
The IMERC board (including national agencies such as IDA, Enterprise Ireland, SEAI and Marine Institute, working alongside industry members including the Port of Cork and Bord Gais) have also shown great leadership in supporting this initiative.
Staff in the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), delivered in tandem with the Irish Naval Service, are also to be acknowledged for their role in the development of the NMCI.
The IMERC vision is to become a research and commercial cluster of world standing that realises Ireland’s opportunity in the global maritime and energy markets of tomorrow.
It is my hope that new jobs in key areas of Marine Renewable Energy, Maritime Security and Safety, Marine Recreation, and Shipping, Logistics and Transport will flow from these announcements.
As part of this development, the IMERC partners are delivering a new research and enterprise campus in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork. The campus which currently features the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) and the INS Headquarters on Haulbowline, will also house UCC’s new funded Beaufort Laboratory, catering for 135 researchers and 150 new construction jobs during its 18 month development.
I have said that I want Ireland to be the best small country in the world in which to do business by 2016. These new maritime announcements will greatly enhance Ireland’s reputation as a place of innovation and research which will make our maritime resources more attractive to new domestic and international investment.
I understand that IMERC will host its first Foreign Direct investment Client, a US based company that will develop an office in the Maritime College within the next couple of months resulting in new jobs.
The IMERC vision will be delivered via the IMERC Strategy, which I have the great pleasure of launching today, as part of the official launch of IMERC. This strategy document provides a comprehensive roadmap for the development IMERC from 2011 to 2016.
The IMERC initiative comes about at the dawn of a new era for maritime Ireland, stimulated by the growing realisation of the economic opportunities around maritime and energy.
We are facing new challenges. We have been here before and overcome them. We will do so again in the future with initiatives such as this. I want to commend all for your initiative and vision.
ENDS.