The Marine Institute's research laboratory in west Dublin is to be relocated to Galway along with 60 scientific staff, writes Lorna Siggins.
The move is sudden and is in response to the Government decision to build a national stadium at Abbotstown in west Dublin.
Announcing the move yesterday, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, said a prime consideration was the fact that the Martin Ryan Institute was already based in UCG. The State Laboratory and laboratories under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development are also to be transferred from Abbotstown to Backweston Farm, between Lucan and Celbridge, Co Kildare. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said government departments would immediately plan for the relocation and replacement of the facilities. He said there would be full consultation with staff.
The State Laboratory, which is the Government's central analytical laboratory and has a staff of over 70. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development employs 200 in the veterinary research laboratories, the seed testing station, the central meat control laboratories, the pesticides control unit and farm.