New Director of Teagasc Appointed

The Teagasc Authority has appointed Professor Gerry Boyle as the new Director of Teagasc; subject to contract. The Authority approved the appointment, with the consent of the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan TD, at its meeting in Oak Park today, Tuesday, 7 August 2007.

Professor Boyle is an international consultant on agricultural policy with the World Bank, having worked on projects in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He will take over from the Acting Director Tom Kirley, on 1 October, 2007. Professor Boyle is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the National University of Ireland and was head of the Economics Department at NUI Maynooth until June 2006. He is currently a senior associate at Farrell Grant Sparks Consulting Ltd.

He qualified with a BA from UCD in 1977 and went on to obtain an MA and PhD from UCD. In his early career he worked as a research officer in the Agricultural Institute, now part of Teagasc, becoming a senior research officer in the rural economy division, prior to joining NUI Maynooth. In the early 1980s, while on secondment, he was employed as an economist with the Central Bank of Ireland.

He has written seven books, is widely published in academic journals, and has completed over 36 major commissioned research reports. His recent publications have focussed on the determinants of economic growth with special reference to the roles of R&D and education.

He was the principal author of a study on The Costs and Benefits of Agricultural Research in Ireland published in 2002, and was joint author of a report entitled EU Leader 1 Initiative: Evaluations and Recommendations published in 1994. As a consultant with Farrell Grant Sparks Ltd, he is currently involved with Teagasc in preparing A Strategy for the Future Resourcing of Agricultural and Horticultural Colleges.

As Director of Teagasc, he will be responsible for the management and development of the organisation's research, advisory and training activities. Employing over 1,500 people, Teagasc operates eight research centres, eight colleges and a nationwide advisory service for farmers. Living in his native county Tipperary, Gerry Boyle is married and has four children.