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Research, Innovation and Science

Commissioner delivers keynote address at the presentation of the 2012 Academy Gold Medals at the Royal Irish Academy

Commissioner delivers keynote address at the presentation of the 2012 Academy Gold Medals at the Royal Irish Academy
"The Royal Irish Academy plays a leading role in promoting a culture of commitment to excellent original research and scholarship in Ireland, which I think we all agree is extremely important. The Academy's work in this area is vital."

 

 

Dublin, 30 November 2012

 

Good morning and thank you for your welcome – it’s a real pleasure for me to visit the Royal Irish Academy, an institution that is quite rightly held in the highest regard here at home and on the international stage.

I would particularly like to thank Professor Luke Drury for inviting me to be part of this special occasion, where I have the privilege of presenting the 2012 Academy Gold Medals in Life Sciences and the Humanities.

I would also like to thank the Higher Education Authority and The Irish Independent for sponsoring these awards. Since their launch in 2005 by President McAleese, the Academy Gold Medals Award has become the premier award for Ireland's academic community – the Irish Nobel prize if you like.

The Royal Irish Academy plays a leading role in promoting a culture of commitment to excellent original research and scholarship in Ireland, which I think we all agree is extremely important. The Academy's work in this area is vital. Questions about the place of science in society or how research should influence policy-making are part of public debate in Europe as never before.

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