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Dublin City of Science 2012 Officially Launched
Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation together with The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Andrew Montague and Dara O’Briain officially launched Dublin City of Science on the 26th of January in the Convention Centre in Dublin.
They were joined by over 400 guests from the science, culture and arts communities that have joined forces in creating a year long festival programme that combines the best of Irish culture, arts and science - the programme consists of over 160 science themed events across Dublin and Ireland including photographic and art exhibitions, several theatre pieces, film festivals, tours, trails and treasure hunts, street performances, science buskers, large-scale interactive installations, experiments, science carnivals, public talks, debates and workshops.
A selection of events were announced at the launch which included St. Patrick’s Festival which will bring science alive in spectacular fashion during Ireland’s largest and most visually impactful artisitc performance, the ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVAL PARADE and a FESTIVAL TREASURE HUNT.
Other events include a key Dublin City of Science hub, SCIENCE GALLERY which will provides an interface for science with art, technology and design. Speaking at the launch Founding Director Michael John Gorman said “Dublin City of Science is a fantastic opportunity to ignite passion for science, technology and innovation in Ireland”. Science Gallery’s flagship exhibition for the year, HACK THE CITY, will invite a diverse group of participants from Ireland and beyond to use Dublin as a test-bed for urban innovation. By unlocking the city’s infrastructure and true potential, it is set not only to be a highlight of 2012, but to further reinforce Dublin’s position as an agile and innovative global capital.
DUBLIN MAKER FAIRE, THE ARK, ROUGH MAGIC THEATRE COMPANY and the RTÉ NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA were also highlighted during the launch. For an example of what’s on offer for the year ahead. see our FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS (over 160 events to be announced throughout the year).
The main event for 2012 is the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) 2012 which takes place in the Convention Centre Dublin in July. Dublin won the right to host this event in a competitive bid process back in 2008. ESOF 2012 is the largest general science meeting in Europe and is held in a different European city every two years.
ESOF 2012 will attract the world’s top scientists to Dublin from 11th to 15th July. It is expected that over 5,000 researchers, policy makers and international science media will come to our shores in the summer for ESOF.
Speaking at the Launch Professor Patrick Cunningham, Chief Scientific Adviser spoke about the highlights that ESOF has to offer. ‘We have the world’s top scientists confirmed for the ESOF event in July. Notable keynotes include Craig Venter, Jean-Jacques Dordain of ESA, Marcus du Sautoy, Bob Geldof Commissioner Geoghegan Quinn, freshly minted Nobel prise winner Jules Hoffmann and Rolf Dieter Heuer of CERN. Also our very own Dara O’Briain will be significantly involved in a variety of ways at ESOF. I would like to thank Dara for all his time on this project and his future involvement.’
Prof. Cunningham continued: ‘2012 is the year where science becomes fun, exciting and entertaining for all and to show the world that Ireland is serious about science’.
Dublin City of Science Ambassadors: Dublin Goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton and Aoibhinn ní Shúilleabháin at the launch of Dublin City of Science 2012.
