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Dr Paul Connolly of the Marine Institute, has been elected
First Vice President for the International Council for the
Exploration of the Sea (ICES) at their annual meeting of Member
Countries in October.
This is a six-year term - the first three of which will be
spent as First Vice President supporting the incoming president
Dr Mike Sinclair of Canada. In 2013, Paul is likely to become
President of ICES
for a further three-year period.
ICES is the oldest intergovernmental marine science organisation
in the world. Paul will be the third Irish president of ICES
since the Council was established in 1902, following Dr Arthur
Went (ICES President 1966-69) and Mr. David de G. Griffith
(ICES President 1991-94). The Irish Free State was admitted
by treaty to ICES in 1925, which was the third such international
treaty that Ireland had signed since its independence in 1922.
Paul Connolly completed his PhD at University College Dublin
in 1986 on fisheries management. He then spent two years working
in London before returning to Ireland to take up a post with
what is now the Marine Institute. From 1991-1998 he was heavily
involved with the provision of scientific advice on fish stocks
to the Irish government and worked extensively with ICES.
In 1999, Paul was appointed Director of Fisheries Science
Services in the Marine Institute and became Ireland’s delegate
to ICES. In 2003, he was elected Vice President of ICES and
served on its Board until 2005. In 2005, ICES then appointed
Paul as chair of a committee that conducted a root and branch
reform of ICES and the way it delivers scientific advice on
the oceans. These reforms focused on making the scientific
advice more transparent to stakeholders, more integrated and
more in line with the needs of clients. The reforms were adopted
by ICES in 2008.
While engaged in this reform process, Paul completed a Master
of Business Administration degree (MBA) at National University
of Ireland, Galway.
Paul is currently chairing a project for the Dutch Government
and ICES that is developing management plans for protected
areas in the North Sea. Here in Ireland, he has been a key
player in the Industry/Science Partnership to sustainably
manage fish stocks in Irish waters.
ICES provides a very important platform where Member States
can add value to their marine science efforts by working together
in a cooperative manner on issues of mutual interest. One
key issue where Member States will have to cooperate in the
near future is on the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive,
where all Member States will have to develop management plans
for their sea areas and assess the environmental
status of these seas by 2012.
The main functions of the President are to chair meetings
of the Member Countries, represent ICES at various functions
and to ensure that ICES activities are in line with its strategic
plan and the needs of its Member States and client commissions.
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