Annual Conference

Well,  the dust has settled after a great annual conference in Cork last thursday and friday.  Well over 300 people attended,  and I suspect the final figure may be as high as 350.

Last monday (19th),  I was very concerned since we had lost four featured speakers due to Eyjafjallajökull - Minister Conor Lenihan, Craig Barrett, Ian Quinn and Bertrand Barré. Conor was stuck in Dubai;  Craig on US east coast;  Ian on US west coast and Bertrand in Paris.  Bertrand very kindly agreed to do a video conference instead.  I approached Ian's CEO,  Helen Ryan who happened to be in the country, and she very kindly agreed to take his place.  But both Conor and Craig were completely unavailable.

Joint Council & Executive Meeting

This morning we held a scheduled joint meeting of Executive and Council at Clyde Rd,  from 10am-1pm.

Finance Committee Meeting; Executive Committee Meeting

This evening, we held our regular Finance Committee Meeting,  followed by Executive,  at Clyde Road.

Taoiseach launches Engineers' Week

We were honoured by the Taoiseach at lunchtime today to launch Engineers' Week from Clyde Road.

Council

We held our January Council meeting yesterday in Clyde Rd.   It was extremely well attended and, although there are occasional Liaison meetings after Council including yesterday,  I think it was the largest Council participation I've seen to date.

Annual Ball, and first ever Lifetime Achievement Award.

We held our annual ball last night in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin,  with about 650 people attending.  A special occasion in our 175th year,  and I was particularly delighted that Dermot McCarthy Secretary General Taoiseach's Office,  and his wife Rosemary,  were able to join us,  along with past Presidents,  and the Presidents of our regions and societies.

Finance Committee Meeting; Executive Committee Meeting

We had our last Finance and Executive Committee meetings of 2009 this afternoon at Clyde Road.