The Forum would like to take this opportunity to wish our Chair, Professor Tom Collins, best wishes on his retirement from the Forum. Tom’s expertise and knowledge has been an invaluable resource to the Forum as it has developed as a stakeholder body to contribute meaningfully to water management in Ireland. In addition to chairing meetings and contributing to discussions, Tom was also an ambassador for the Forum and our spokesperson on water issues in the national media. As a moderator at webinars, he excelled at posing thought provoking questions and leading innovative thinking.
Tom spent 10 years as Chair of the National Rural Water Monitoring Committee that oversaw an investment of €2 billion in Group Water Scheme infrastructure. Tom was heavily involved in the establishment of the National Centre for Freshwater Studies (now the Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies) at Dundalk Institute of Technology. As a member of the Wild Irish Salmon working group, he contributed to the banning of drift net fishing for salmon in Irish coastal waters. In 2015 Tom was appointed Chair of the Public Water Forum and remained as chair of An Fóram Uisce – The Water Forum in 2018.
While the members and staff of the Forum will miss Tom’s presence, they are honoured to have worked with him over the years and hope to continue to build and improve the Forum’s role and impact in water management in Ireland. We look forward to a proper farewell when COVID allows.
The Minister is currently in the process of appointing a new Chair to the Forum.
Further information on the appointment is available at:
An Fóram Uisce Chairperson Information Booklet
An Fóram Uisce Chairperson Press Advertisement
