Ireland in CERN!
I saw the news today that the Republic of Ireland is now officially an associate member state of the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, better known as CERN. This has been in the pipeline for a while: I blogged about it here, for example. But today’s the day that Ireland formally joined.
I think this is a very good move for Irish physics, and indeed for Ireland generally. I will, however, repeat a worry that I have expressed previously. There is an important point about CERN membership, however, which I hope is not sidelined. The case for joining CERN made at political levels was largely about the return in terms of the potential in contracts to technology companies based in Ireland from instrumentation and other infrastructure investments. This was also the case for Ireland’s membership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which Ireland joined 7 years ago. The same thing is true for involvement in the European Space Agency, which Ireland joined in 1975. These benefits are of course real and valuable and it is entirely right that arguments should involve them.
Looking at CERN membership from a purely scientific point of view, however, the return to Ireland will be negligible unless there is a funding to support scientific exploitation of the facility. That would include funding for academic staff time, and for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers to build up an active community as well as, e.g., computing facilities. This need not be expensive even relative to the modest cost of associate membership (approximately €1.9M). I would estimate a figure of around half that would be needed to support CERN-based science. I am given to understand that some funds have been made available as part of the joining arrangements, but I don’t know the details.
As I have mentioned before, Ireland’s membership of ESO provides a cautionary tale. The Irish astronomical community was very happy about the decision to join ESO, but that decision was not accompanied by significant funding to exploit the telescopes. Few astronomers have therefore been able to benefit from ESO membership. While there are other benefits of course, the return to science has been extremely limited. The phrase “to spoil a ship for a ha’porth of tar” springs to mind.
Although Ireland joined ESA almost fifty years ago, the same issue applies there. ESA member countries pay into a mandatory science programme which includes, for example, Euclid. However, the Irish Government did not put any resources on the table to allow full participation in the Euclid Consortium. There is Irish involvement in other ESA projects (such as JWST) but this is somewhat piecemeal. There is no funding programme in Ireland dedicated to the scientific exploitation of ESA projects.
Under current arrangements the best bet in Ireland for funding for ESA, ESO or CERN exploitation is via the European Research Council, but to get a grant from that one has to compete with much better developed communities in those areas.
The recent merger of Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council to form a single entity called Research Ireland could provide an opportunity to correct this shortfall in funding for science exploitation. The reorganization won’t do anything on its own, however: the overall level of public sector research funding will have to increase dramatically from its current level, well below the OECD average. The recent Budget in Ireland for 2026 does include an allocation of €426 million for research under the National Development Plan, but how much of this will find its way into basic research generally and CERN science in particular?
In the Dark 
October 23, 2025 at 10:07 am
This issue of Ireland joining major facilities but then not providing funds to exploit them has been ongoing for many years. The worry is that the Governments sees any investment purely in terms of providing access to funding for technical work (instrument development etc) and associate spin-offs. It does seem that over the past few decades the governments (of whatever party) have been focused almost purely on applied research and impact, not blue-sky work. (Which has as you noted been supported by the EU).
October 23, 2025 at 7:47 pm
There may be opportunities to impress on elected representatives the importance of funding research using international facilities. Presumably the Dáil or Seanad have committees that investigate science policy. Committees might conduct inquiries into subjects from time to time that impinge on research.
October 24, 2025 at 11:37 am
Perhaps you need something like a ‘national review of astrophysics research in Ireland’, undertaken by for example the RIA? An important point to make is the impact astronomy makes in the public understanding of science (astronomers do far more outreach I think than researchers in other disciplines), and its role in attracting students to do physics.
October 25, 2025 at 8:08 pm
I agree very strongly about those reasons for funding astronomy.
I am in the United Kingdom where there is a tendency for people to argue for astronomy funding on the basis of training people to PhD level who then go into industry, business and the public sector. Instead, I believe better arguments for funding astronomy are to stimulate public interest in science, and to motivate young people to study science in general, many of whom will take up careers across science, technology and engineering.
November 19, 2025 at 6:31 am
[…] “I saw the news today that the Republic of Ireland is now officially an associate member state of the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, better known as CERN …” (more) […]