Address by Mr. Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology & Commerce at the Teagasc Annual Walsh Fellowships SeminarPrizegiving Ceremony Royal Dublin Society, 15th November 2000 5pm

I am very pleased to be asked to attend this year’s Walsh Fellowship Seminar, once again. This Fellowship is named after the late Dr Tom Walsh, first Director of An Foras Talúntais (now Teagasc). Tom Walsh was a recipient of the prestigious RDS Boyle Medal, and the recently published book on scientific and technological education in Ireland, ‘Prometheus’s Fire’, was dedicated to him in acknowledgement of his colossal input into the development of Irish Science.

The Fellowship is no less impressive than the man from which it takes its name. In fact, the Walsh Fellowships scheme is one of the largest postgraduate schemes in this country, currently supporting 100 students with an annual budget of £1 million. All nine universities in the island of Ireland, and four of the Institutes of Technology, are participating in the Walsh Fellowships scheme and new links have recently been established with universities in Great Britain, continental Europe, the USA and New Zealand. The scheme, which links Teagasc’s applied research programme to the basic research carried out in the Universities, is an effective mechanism for the training of young scientists and for introducing new science and technology into agricultural and food research. Many former Walsh Fellows have gone on to make significant national contributions in agriculture, food and related disciplines, and judging by the quality of the presentations which we have heard, many of today’s speakers look set to carry on this trend. I can’t comment on the Scientific content of the presentations- but I can say that the delivery was clear and professional, the graduates fielded questions very well. They kept within the strict time discipline imposed by the Chairpersons- a practice which could be followed more often by some of my colleagues in the political profession.

The Fellowship Scheme is a joint activity of Teagasc and the RDS and I would like to acknowledge the contributions of both organisations to the development of science and technology in Ireland. The RDS, dating from 1731, can claim to be the oldest scientific and agricultural organisation in the country and over the years has contributed such resources to the state as the Botanic Gardens, the National Museum, the National Library, the National College of Art and Design and the Veterinary College. I am happy to see that the spirit of adventure which inspired the Society’s contributions to science in the past is still alive and is reflected in the Society’s support for this and other Science Week events, including two RDS ‘Science Live’ demonstrations. I would also like to acknowledge the support of the RDS Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and the Agricultural Trust and the Farmers Journal, for their sponsorship of the Young Researcher of the Year award, which I look forward to presenting shortly.

We are halfway through Science Week now and I think this is a useful juncture to reflect its successes thus far. One of the strengths of Science Week is the variety of events which have been organized, covering such a broad spectrum. Many of the events which caught the headlines and the public imagination have been broadly based and spectacular - the Sunday Fun Days, for example, or the Museum Explorer Tours, or even the Mad Science Workshops. The Walsh Fellowships, we might say, stand as a benchmark for what we want Science Week to eventually achieve the creation of a cadre of enthusiastic, inventive young researchers with superlative communication skills.

In the past, we have often launched Science Week with a presentation from a famous name- be that a popular science writer or a television personality, or, as was the case last year, an astronaut. This year we broke with that tradition. The presentation at the opening of this year’s Science Week last Friday was given by a young Irish engineering graduate called James O’Riordan who is the Chief Engineer with an indigenous high-tech company called S3. This approach proved to be a great success, I am happy to say. I have rarely seen as natural and accomplished a performer. Mr O’Riordan connected immediately with his young audience as he described the cutting-edge work done by his company on designing the "home of the future". He didn’t give the students a hard-sell on why they should all choose Science subjects for their Leaving Cert- but then again, he didn’t need to. His enthusiasm and his eloquence alone convinced every young person in that room that Science was the pathway to an exciting, adventurous and lucrative career.

Listening to the speakers today making light of complex issues, I was reminded of Mr O’Riordan’s presentation, and this more than anything convinced me that the Walsh Fellowship Awards belong at the heart of Science Week. Not only are these intelligent and articulate graduates a testimony to the quality of Science education in Ireland - they also serve as excellent role models to encourage young people to avail of that education and make their careers in Science.