Minister Lawless signs Associate Membership Agreement on behalf of Ireland with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
-
From: Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
- Published on: 8 May 2025
- Last updated on: 8 May 2025
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless TD has today attended a signing ceremony at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) headquarters to agree Ireland’s Associate Membership of the organisation. The Minister’s signature signals Ireland’s commitment to join the world-leading research organisation and marks an important step in the process of joining.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Lawless said:
“I am delighted to have signed this Associate Membership Agreement with CERN. This represents the culmination of significant work by the Government and CERN, building on the excellence of the Irish physics community.
“As an associate member of one of the world’s most significant research organisations, Ireland will have an opportunity to gain access to excellent research, innovation, collaboration and industry contracts.
“This long-term international commitment to our scientific community will demonstrate the Irish Government’s continued and expanding support of Ireland’s participation in leading global research collaborations.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in Government and stakeholders over the coming period to finalise Ireland’s associate membership status and maximise the opportunities presented by the process.”
Associate membership of CERN will bring benefits to Ireland across research, industry, skills, science outreach and international relations. It will open doors for Ireland’s researchers to participate in CERN’s scientific programmes and will make Irish citizens eligible for staff positions and fellowships at CERN. It will also be possible for Irish citizens to access CERN’s formal training schemes and develop skills in industry-relevant areas such as electronics, photonics, materials, energy systems and software.
Membership will also allow Ireland’s enterprises to compete in CERN procurement programmes. Much of CERN’s instrumentation and equipment requires the development or exploitation of novel technologies, which spurs enterprise innovation. Many of these technologies have applications in other spheres such as medicine, space, energy and ICT.
Today’s signing ceremony was opened by the Director of International Relations at CERN, Ms Charlotte Lindberg Warakaulle, followed by some words welcoming Ireland’s membership of the organisation from the Director-General of CERN, Dr Fabiola Gianotti. Minister Lawless then signed the Associate Membership Agreement on behalf of Ireland, and Dr Gianotti signed on behalf of CERN.
Minister Lawless also had the opportunity to visit the ISOLDE facility, a key experimental infrastructure supporting fundamental research in particle physics and radiobiology.
Ireland applied for Associate Membership of CERN in November 2023. Subject to funding requirements and Dáil approval, it is expected that Ireland will complete the accession process this year.
NOTES
Photo caption: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless TD and CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti sign an Associate Membership Agreement, signalling Ireland’s commitment to join the world-leading research organisation. (Photo: CERN)
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. CERN is the leading global collaboration investigating the fundamental composition of matter. It was established in 1954 and straddles the Franco-Swiss border, just outside Geneva. CERN currently has twenty-three Member States and ten Associate Member States, three of which are in the pre-stage to full membership. Additionally, CERN has co-operation agreements with over 40 other states.
The primary focus of activity in CERN is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is an underground ring which is 27km in circumference in which protons, one of the constituent particles of an atom, are accelerated to 99.9999991% of the speed of light and collided into one another. The LHC was used to discover the Higgs boson in 2012. CERN also plays a leading role in promoting and organising international cooperation in scientific research. CERN research has resulted in impactful technology including the World Wide Web and medical applications.
The CERN experiments where Ireland currently has a presence are CMS, LHCb and ATLAS. University College Dublin has worked with CERN on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and LHCb collaborations since the early 2000s. Trinity College Dublin have recently joined the CMS collaboration, and Munster Technological University is a Technical Associate Institute of the ATLAS collaboration at CERN as of December 2024.
