Architects' new president sets agenda

The new president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), Seán Ó Laoire, has said one of his priorities will be to "demonstrate that good architecture and urban design is a fundamental ingredient of a healthy and sustainable society".

Mr Ó Laoire, who takes over from James Pike on January 1st for a two-year term of office, also intends to develop the institute's role as a "thought leader" informing Government policy on architecture, the environment, planning and the "sustainability agenda".

Along with Hugh Murray, he heads Ireland's largest architectural practice, Murray Ó Laoire Architects, founded in 1979 and with offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Moscow, Slovakia's capital Bratislava and Aachen in Germany.

Mr Ó Laoire (59) was educated at the UCD school of architecture and the University of California. He also studied and worked in England, Italy and the US, before serving for three years as a senior lecturer in urban design at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He has been external examiner for several universities and juror in major design competitions.

He has written extensively and lectured at home and abroad.

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times