Heads of Schools Meeting

Today from 10am to 3pm,  John Power (DG),  Denis McGrath (Registrar) and myself hosted a meeting to which all heads of engineering schools nationwide,  both from Universities and Institutes of Technology,  were invited to discuss deeper co-ordination and co-operation between us all.

Executive and Council meetings

Yesterday morning we had a short,  one hour,  Executive meeting followed immediately by Council.

Finance Committee Meeting

We had an additional finance committee meeting at lunch-time,  to finalise a difficult budget for 2010.   There are a few "known unknowns" relating to income next year,  so we will need to remain flexible in our prudent management of the financial resources during 2010,  whilst striving at all times to further improve our key benefits of membership with what will almost certainly be less overall income.

The budget will be presented to Executive tomorrow morning and,  if approved,  given to Council later on in the morning.

North-East Region Annual Dinner Dance

I attended the north-east region's event this evening in the Crystal Hotel,  Cavan.  John Brannigan was the hosting President,  and the Chair of Cavan County Council,  Winston Bennett,  and County Manager,  Jack Keyes also attended.   There were about 90 people altogether.

Software Industry Awards 2009

This evening I represented Engineers Ireland at the Software Industry Awards in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.   About 400 people attended,  with Des Cahill as an excellent host for the evening.   Minister Conor Lenihan was the guest of honour,  and spoke passionately about the opportunity for the software industry and the smart economy.

Finance Committee Meeting; Executive Committee Meeting

This afternoon at Clyde Road we had our November Finance Committee meeting,  followed immediately by a meeting of the Cafe Clyde Committee,  and then by the Executive.

Chartered Engineer of the Year Award; Paper and Presentation Awards

Yesterday evening at Clyde Road we had standing room only - about 200 people in all - for the finalists of the C.Eng. of the Year award,  and for the awards for best papers.    This was the 13th year of the C.Eng of the Year competition.  Last year (June '08-'09),  450 people achieved C.Eng. status,  and the six of these became finalists last evening.

JobSeekers Network

I briefly sat in for part of this morning's JobSeekers Network meeting in Dublin,  organised by Sean Maguire and Jimmy Kinahan,  and chatted to people at a few of the tables.   Unfortunately I then had another meeting at 10am to get to for the innovation taskforce.

Officers Meeting

This evening,  John Power (DG),  Jim Browne (Past President),  PJ Rudden (Junior VP) and myself met in Clyde Road,  followed by dinner together,  to have a general review across a range of topics.  Martin Lowery (Senior VP) had hoped to be able to join us in time from a meeting of the Urban Forum in Limerick,  which he chairs on behalf of Engineers Ireland,  but became caught in traffic.