Tim Lucey, <strong>Cork</strong> City Manager; John Mullins, Bord Gais; Brendan Halligan, Chairman SustainableEnergy Authority <strong>of</strong> Ireland and Martin Riordan, <strong>Cork</strong> County Manager. (Photographs: Neil Danton)Joe Fitzgerald, Bus Eireann and Joe O’Brien, Construction IndustryFederation.Peter Fehily, Allsafe Risk Management with Caroline McGarry and Gary McCormick,Windturbines.ieEnergy@<strong>Cork</strong> Cluster<strong>Cork</strong> <strong>Chamber</strong>, in association with the CASP partners,recently hosted a half day workshop which broughttogether the diversity <strong>of</strong> suppliers, customers, researchersand businesses involved with all aspects <strong>of</strong> the energyrelated sector in the region.At the seminar John Mullins explained that the overallobjective <strong>of</strong> the workshop was to increase awareness<strong>of</strong> those working across the sector in <strong>Cork</strong> as a step tobuilding a unique identity around energy in the region anddevelop an ‘Energy@<strong>Cork</strong>’ cluster.The workshop was opened by <strong>Cork</strong> City Manager Tim Luceyand was addressed by Pr<strong>of</strong>. Owen Lewis, Chief Executive<strong>of</strong> the Sustainable Energy Authority <strong>of</strong> Ireland (SEAI) whooutlined Ireland’s competitive advantages in the field <strong>of</strong>sustainable energy and discussed the need to improveenergy efficiency and harness the opportunities presentedby cleantech and Ireland’s natural resources. Pr<strong>of</strong>. Lewisdiscussed how energy technology could employ 30,000 inIreland by 2015 and marine energy could employ 50,000by 2015.Brendan Halligan, Sustainable Energy Authority <strong>of</strong> Ireland with AlmaMurnane, Policy & Research Manager, <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>Chamber</strong>;A number <strong>of</strong> thematic discussions took place, facilitated byexperts involved in various aspects <strong>of</strong> energy supply, use,management and efficiency.These were:• Demand side management (facilitated by AidenO’Neill, Coakley O’Neill)• Building standards and Construction (facilitated byJoe O’Brien, Construction Industry Federation)• Technology/Cleantech (facilitated by Noel Duffy,<strong>Cork</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Technology)• Energy supply initiatives (facilitated by Neil O’Carroll,ConocoPhillips Ireland)• Transport (facilitated by Joe Fitzgerald, Bus Éireann)• Research (facilitated by Dr. Brian Ó Gallachóir,University College <strong>Cork</strong>)The second session was chaired by <strong>Cork</strong> County ManagerMartin Riordan and addressed by Brendan Halligan,Chairman <strong>of</strong> the SEAI. The proceedings <strong>of</strong> the workshop,including the presentation by Pr<strong>of</strong>. Owen Lewis andthe findings <strong>of</strong> each discussion group are available todownload from the Policy publications section <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Cork</strong><strong>Chamber</strong> website.Over 200 attended the first workshop and over 100 haveexpressed an interest in contributing to the steering groupand developing the cluster into the future.To bring the cluster forward delegates were encouraged to express their interest in forming the steering groupto take the concept further and begin work on delivering the economic opportunities for the region which wereidentified. Expressions <strong>of</strong> interest in this group can be sent to sean@corkchamber.ie.5CHAMBERlink