As part of a drive to maximise the effectiveness of SCI’s smaller Interest Groups by encouraging mergers where appropriate, the Board of Trustees recently approved a proposal to merge the former Republic of Ireland (RoI) International Group and Northern Ireland Regional Group respectively, to form a new All-Ireland Group.
The RoI International Group was formed in 1947 as the ‘Dublin and District Section’ and is small yet very active. The Group functions similarly to SCI’s UK Regional Groups and is already familiar with operating over a large geographical area but with relatively low membership. Although the committee is largely Dublin-based there are representatives from Limerick and Cork, who travel to Dublin for committee meetings when possible. The Group holds or sponsors at least one event per year in Limerick and Cork, and occasional events in Galway.
In addition, it attempts to hold occasional committee meetings or Annual General Meetings (AGMs) outside Dublin in conjunction with events of technical interest – recent AGMs have been held in this way in Cork and Galway. The RoI Group will now join with SCI’s Northern Ireland Group, which also has a small membership base of just over thirty members, to generate increased activity and resources for both areas.
A Northern Ireland representative will join their existing RoI committee and a committee meeting will be held in Belfast during 2010. There is already a proposal for an event of technical interest to be held in 2011 in Belfast (jointly with the Materials Chemistry Group) on ‘ionic liquids’, to coincide with the Irish Universities Chemistry Colloquium.
If you would like to get involved in this new initative, whether it is to organise or speak at the Group’s events, help the Group to publicise its activities or participate in some other way, email communications@soci.org
David Birkett, Treasurer of newly-formed SCI All-Ireland Group
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