Marine expert on job creation mission

Think letting highly paid Government ministers jet off to some of the most sought-after locations in the world for St Patrick’s Day is the wrong way to kick-start foreign interest in Ireland?

Do you feel experts in specific fields instead of ego-driven political mouth-pieces would be of more use on the high-profile jaunts?

If so, you may want to meet Dr Val Cummins.

In what some might argue is a more practical approach to job creation and investment from abroad than that offered by Leinster House every Mar 17, over the next seven weeks the director of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Centre in Co Cork will be touring the US in an attempt to drum up jobs for the sector.

Specifically, she will be meeting the industry’s leading lights while pushing plans to develop the world’s largest renewable energy research centre in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, by next year.

In the process, she expects to help to significantly increase investment into the Irish sector — resulting in a potential swell of 52,000 new jobs for the country over the next 20 years.

“Ireland has the third largest sea area and the largest maritime area to land mass in the EU. But 1% of our GDP is derived from the maritime economy. This compares with 20% of GDP for Norway, 11% for Denmark and 5% for Britain,” she said.

“A recent Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland study forecast 52,000 jobs in marine renewables by 2030, if the right supports are put in place.”

Among the groups Dr Cummins — who represents UCC, the Irish Naval Service, and Cork Institute of Technology — will meet will be related ICT firms, renewable energy groups and maritime organisations.

During her visit, which is supported by a US-government supported Eisenhower Fellowship, she will also meet with potential investors into Ireland and discuss the specific benefits of basing maritime-focussed renewable energy programmes here.

* See www.imerc.ie