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Policy and funding

Policy and funding

Committee urges Ireland to join CERN particle-physics lab

19 Nov 2019
Image of flags at CERN
Joining the club: Ireland is only one of three European countries that do not have a formal agreement with CERN. (Courtesy: CERN)

Ireland should “immediately” begin negotiations to become an associate member of the CERN particle-physics laboratory near Geneva. That is according to a report by a cross-party Irish parliamentary committee, which concludes that Ireland’s absence from CERN could impact its ability to attract high-tech companies and goes against the country’s claim to be a “knowledge economy”.

CERN currently has 23 member states and eight nations that are associate members. Ireland, however, is one of only three European countries that do not have a formal agreement with CERN. Becoming a member allows a participating country’s scientists to have access to formal training and become CERN staff members, while giving local companies access to CERN contracts. CERN membership is also thought to increase collaboration with other nations and boost the number of students studying science and engineering subjects in the country.

We have made a cross-party view — now the government needs to come on board

James Lawless

About 20 Irish companies have contracts with CERN, but the lab prioritizes companies from its member countries, which, according to the report, places Irish businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Experts told the committee that membership would also increase Ireland’s ability to secure funding from the European Union, with projects supported by the Horizon 2020 programme that were linked to CERN garnering a 35% success rate — well above the average of 12%.

Joining forces

In 2014, the Institute of Physics (IOP) in Ireland published a report –The Case for Irish Membership of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics – CERN  – in which it recommended full membership, but noted that associate membership would allow Ireland to first evaluate the returns before making an decision about full membership. Full membership would cost Ireland around €12.5m per year, but associate membership could be obtained for 10% of that cost. The latest report agrees with the IOP conclusion, noting that Ireland should first become an associate member and then, after three years, carry out a full cost-benefit analysis to assess whether to become a full member.

Ronan McNulty, a particle physicist, from University College Dublin who gave evidence to the committee, describes the report as pragmatic, sensible and cautious. “We fully endorse it and we hope the minister will act upon it now,” he says, adding that he has “been plugging away and trying to make this happen for 30 years”.

Indeed, Ireland’s five-year R&D strategy — Innovation 2020 – that was published in 2015 identified four international research bodies that Ireland would benefit from joining. These were CERN; the European Southern Observatory; ELIXIR, which manages data from life-sciences research; and the LOFAR radio telescope network. Ireland has joined them all, bar CERN.

At the launch of the report on 13 November, parliamentary deputy and committee member James Lawless, praised the academic community for making such a clear-cut case for CERN membership. “We have a final step to climb,” he added.  “We have made a cross-party view — now the government needs to come on board.”

Physicist Emmanuel Tsesmelis, who is head of relations with associate members and non-member states at CERN, says that the lab is “pleased to see the positive recommendations” in the report and that it “stands by to provide any assistance required for the next actions”.

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