An environmental chemist who specialises in the study of Irish bogs is to establish a Wetlands Research Centre at Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT).
Ms Michelle McKeon, a lecturer in the science department at LIT for six years, said that while there were people doing research on wetlands in the State, nobody was using environmental chemistry.
"Different colleges do different programmes, but I want to establish a specific centre," she said. "The Dutch and Germans have them. Most work in this field is done here by the National Wildlife Service."
Start-up costs are in the region of £200,000. The centre will be inaugurated in September, with phase one starting with a Masters student researching volatile gases.
From Clara, Co Offaly, Ms McKeon had encouragement from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, also a Clara native, and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
She sees her work "as a life" rather than a job. "I always wanted to do this. The bog is part of our heritage. Two Famine roads built on Clara Bog are a history in themselves. All bogs are heritage sites as they have specific flora and fauna whose habitats cannot exist anywhere else," she said.
Ms McKeon said Clara Bog was one of the few surviving, relatively intact, raised bogs. "It's the only one of its kind in Europe," she said. The Republic was 15 years behind other European states in wetlands conservation, she said. Ms McKeon has an analytical chemistry degree from Cork Institute of Technology and, prior to that, got her certificate and diploma from LIT. She also has a Masters in Biochemistry from the University of Limerick. She is completing her PhD thesis on Clara Bog.
Ms McKeon is raising funds for her project, and anyone who would like to provide finance can contact her at LIT. "International companies today are enthusiastic about environmental issues and might like to come on board," she said.