ACEI is pleased to announce the appointment of a new President for 2020-2021.  Conor McCarthy, CEng, FIEI, FConsEI, was elected ACEI President at the association’s AGM on 22 May 2020.

Conor McCarthy is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and a registered Fellow of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (FConsEI).  Conor is a Director and Partner at Jennings O’Donovan & Partners Consulting Engineers.  He has over 38 years’ experience in consulting engineering in Ireland and the US where he holds the title of Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

 

Conor is responsible for directing, managing and leading the technical design for the water and wastewater infrastructural services at Jennings O’Donovan & Partners and is experienced in public consultation, public speaking, presentations, technical report writing for the media and input on radio.  Conor is a member of the Environment and Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee of Sligo County Council.  A Past Captain of County Sligo Golf Club, he has also been President of Sligo Rotary and is the immediate Past President of Sligo Chamber of Commerce.  

 

Conor was first elected as a member of the ACEI Executive in 2011 and has served on the Board in a variety of roles including Convenor of the Civil Committee, Second Vice-President and Vice-President. 

 

Conor is taking up the role of President at a particularly challenging time for consulting engineering firms and indeed for society in general due to the impact of the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.  His focus during his tenure will be to address the underlying challenges that existed before the crisis:

 

• To encourage significant investment in housing, healthcare, education, transport, utilities including water and wastewater, in renewable energy and in infrastructure as the projected growth in the population is an additional one million people by the year 2040;

 

• Addressing years of under-investment particularly in digital and transport infrastructure and in third level education in the regions and along the Atlantic Economic Corridor to support the longer-term development of the regions and promote balanced regional growth;

 

• The health of workers – the  need to be conscious and aware of the potential negative impact on our staff and ourselves in terms of balancing home life with work expectations.