The mission of the Irish Geological Association (IGA) is to promote interest in geology in Ireland and I hope our programme in 2011 helped to advance that cause. We had a varied programme of lectures, field trips and other events. Our aim has been to build our membership, broaden our activities and improve the service for all our members, whether in Dublin or elsewhere. I presided over a busy and enthusiastic Council (whose members are highlighted in bold below) that endeavoured, given its voluntary and part-time nature, to provide the best possible service to members.
We are fortunate to have a supportive membership of about 120, which is distributed throughout Ireland. We have a mix of Sustaining (Corporate), Individual, Family and Student Members. On the financial side, our bank balance at the end of 2011 stood at a healthy €3000. Peter Lewis, Treasurer, will report to you in detail at the AGM regarding both finances and membership. I want to thank our auditor, Prof Stephen Daly, for auditing our accounts.
Our programme of evening meetings consisted of 11 lectures delivered by speakers from the third level, the geological surveys and industry. All were presented at Dublin venues and one each was repeated at Cork and Galway. We set out a long-term programme with the aim of drawing attention to it and have experimented with alternative times and venues to maximise attendance. Our Secretary, Laura Smith, will report more fully on our meetings at the AGM. A wide spectrum of topics was covered, reflecting some key recent developments in Irish geology as well as some of the ways in which geology contributes in a practical way to Irish society. Our New Year’s Lecture dealt with the origin of zinc-lead ores at Navan Mine, while others described new regional surveys to support mineral exploration and groundwater protection. Energy issues were highlighted in talks on geothermal energy and, as a way of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, carbon capture and storage. The quality of our urban environment was discussed in a presentation on recent geochemical surveys, while another considered the potential for submarine landslides in the European offshore. Important research on sand-grain provenance and the evolution of granites also featured, as well as, more globally, the development of crustal magma. We also had two enjoyable Members’ Nights, comprising the usual blend of presentations, DVDs, eclectic specimen displays and well-chosen wine/cheese refreshments. Thanks to Tom De Brit, Peter Lewis and Ed McKenna for organising Members’ Nights, as well as refreshments at many events throughout the year.
A key highlight this year was the overseas trip to Cornwall, organised by Frank Clissmann, which visited many areas of mineralization and historical mining, as well as the celebrated Eden Project. Our excursions programme, coordinated by Dan O’Shea, Excursions Secretary (who will brief the AGM on it), also involved three field trips in Ireland and a workshop in Galway. Our March visit to Killiney was followed by a weekend visit to areas of gold mineralization in the Sperrins, where we had the combined support of Galantas Irish Gold, Dalradian Resources and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. We had a cruise on the R.V. Keary in Waterford Harbour, where the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) demonstrated its surveying capabilities, and we combined this with a coastal excursion to the Copper Coast Geopark. In the autumn we spent a weekend in the newly-declared Burren Geopark, where among several localities, we visited the Cliffs of Moher. Stephen Callaghan, who organised the Killiney trip, also arranged an excursion to coincide with Irish Heritage Week. The Galway gemstones workshop in June was hosted by the Dept of Earth & Ocean Sciences at NUI Galway. We introduced a process of online registration for field trips this year in order to ensure fair access to them and so that members understand our Health & Safety Statement. Ed McKenna undertook a review of our insurance arrangements.
The quality of participation in IGA activities for members outside Dublin was examined carefully by Donal Hayes, Membership Development Officer. A survey of membership suggested that it is static, ageing and has low participation in IGA events. This has been a source of concern to Council. Having surveyed the membership on expectations of IGA membership, the initial proposal was to facilitate the establishment of local IGA branches, but subsequently Council decided as an alternative to support the development of independent, regionally-based geological associations. The Galway Geological Association now joins the Cork Geological Association and the Belfast Geologists’ Society as organisations that IGA is pleased to cooperate with. Cooperation during the year included, with Bettie Higgs’ assistance, jointly organising the Waterford excursion with Cork Geological Association and repeating one of our lectures in Cork. Through John Murray’s help, we hosted the IGA Special Lecture at the Irish Geological Research Meeting (IGRM) at NUI Galway, awarded a prize for best student speaker at IGRM, and we also repeated an IGA lecture there.
We have been conscious during the year of the need to attract more students and recent graduates to the Association. We organised the Student Travel Grant Scheme on a competitive basis, aimed at postgraduate research students. The successful candidate, Abigail Rooney (to whom we offer congratulations!), was awarded €500 towards travel to USA in 2012 to further her research. In addition we advertised grants to subsidise undergraduate attendance at IGA field excursions but received no applications. These two student support schemes for postgraduates and undergraduates are organised by Emma Lyne, with the help of Frank Clissmann and others. I am pleased to say that each has recently secured sponsorship, from CRH Group and Teck respectively, in order to develop them further. The support of both companies is really appreciated. We also hope to join with GSI in running the Cunningham Awards for undergraduate field mapping. We are keen to promote geology to Leaving Cert students as a desirable third level subject and career choice. Accordingly, we participated on the Geosciences Ireland stand at the Young Scientists’ and Technology Exhibition (Susan Pyne) and offered support to AGTI and others in lobbying for the retention of geography as a core Leaving Cert subject (Frank Clissmann and Tom De Brit).
A number of special initiatives were undertaken in the past year. The first was the establishment of an Adult Education Course in Earth Science at the Marino College of Further Education (CD VEC). This IGA-approved course was successfully devised and promoted by Donal Hayes. It is being delivered by Tom De Brit. The course encompasses the Leaving Cert Core Unit 1 of the Geography Syllabus and extends it with additional topics. The second initiative advanced in 2011 was the provision of a geological poster (with explanatory booklet) for secondary schools across the country. Spearheaded by Frank Clissmann with the support of Laura Smith, a suitable product has been sourced in Germany and, in cooperation with the Geoschol Project in Trinity College Dublin, its customisation is now almost completed. It features the history of life, climate and environment on Earth in a very interesting way. Its production is being sponsored by Tullow Oil, whose generosity we are pleased to acknowledge. Many years ago, IGA published a set of field guides to the geology of interesting localities around the country and during 2011 Donal Hayes started an assessment of which ones might be re-published and any new ones that might be added to the set; this is a potential task for the incoming Council. This would rely on IGA records which currently are held in TCD in the care of our informal Archivist, Patrick Wyse Jackson.
We are constantly trying to improve our communications so that the wider public understand our mission and we attract new members wherever possible. Our website is critical to this effort and it has been upgraded in the past year thanks to Gordon Poole, Tom De Brit and Donal Hayes. We have also issued four Newsletters this year, with Laura Smith as editor, to keep members informed. These Newsletters and other notices are issued by email (although we still have a few postal mail members!). In a year when geoscience was the positive subject of an Irish Times editorial, the first for more than a decade, the value of newspaper publicity is acknowledged and Ed McKenna worked hard to get our lectures mentioned in the “What’s On” column (Thursdays) in the Irish Times. In parallel, Susan Pyne was effectively targeting college students by placing posters in Geology Departments. We operate an ad hoc query service on geological matters, mainly from overseas people who find us on the internet. We have agreed to join with GSI in running the DuNoyer Photo Competition (which was regrettably cancelled in 2011) in future years. We are arranging for the publication of a history of IGA, written by Patrick Wyse Jackson (who lectured on the subject in September) and illustrated by Camille Souter, in early 2012. In addition, through our support for its publication, IGA members receive copies of the attractively published Earth Science Ireland.
I wish to sincerely thank all those organisations and individuals who contributed to our activities throughout the year, whether by presenting lectures, leading field trips or workshops, or by sponsoring our activities. An exciting programme is already planned up to Summer 2012 and I urge you to check it out on www.geology.ie . And beyond the Summer, there are proposals for trips to London (Autumn 2012) and the Canaries (Spring 2013). Don’t miss out on these great opportunities!
Council met on seven occasions during the year, with Laura Smith as Minutes Secretary. Average attendance was 50%. This was significant and appreciated, given that some members lived outside Dublin (one outside Ireland!) and all had competing demands upon their time. We have tried to improve participation in Council through extensive email communications between meetings and an IGA Forum has been established online for the use of Council members. I want to thank all members of Council, including Donal Hayes, John Murray and Sophie Preteseille, who resigned during the year, for their contributions to the work of IGA and for their support to me. In welcoming Laura Smith as incoming President, Council is signalling its strong support for involvement by younger members in our organisation.