Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre Opened in Athenry

Significant developments have taken place at the Teagasc research facility in Athenry, County Galway in recent years. The Teagasc Rural Economy Research Centre is now based in Athenry, having been relocated from Dublin.

Today, Thursday, 1 March 2007, Mary Coughlan TD, Minister for Agriculture and Food, officially opened the new headquarters of the Rural Economy Research Centre (RERC). The centre provides Teagasc with an important research resource, with 40 permanent staff, along with a further 20 PhD students under the Walsh Fellowship programme and 15 post-doctoral research posts, working in the rural economy centre.

Head of Teagasc RERC, Dr Cathal O’ Donoghue, said: “RERC has developed a research capacity in policy modelling and analysis over the last ten years that is internationally recognised. The National Farm Survey provides an unrivalled database for economic and rural development research and policy analysis. In addition, important research on rural viability is being undertaken.”

Minister Coughlan rededicated the refurbished Mellows building which is now called Ấras Uί Mhaoilίosa and accommodates the rural economy team, staff working in rural development, forestry and in the specialist advisory services. Teagasc has redeveloped the former student college into modern offices to cater for the expanding numbers of research staff now based at Athenry. Over €2 million has been spent on the campus in recent years and there are plans to complete the refurbishment of the old college as part of Teagasc’s research vision programme.

During her visit Minister Coughlan reviewed the activities of the Animal Production Research Centre and laboratory facilities. The sheep research programme at Athenry forms a critical part of the restructured sheep programme recently announced by Teagasc. Seamus Hanrahan, Teagasc researcher, demonstrated the potential benefits of electronic tagging of sheep.