MERC Vision:

The Maritime and Energy Cluster Ireland (MERC) vision is to promote Ireland as a world class maritime and energy research and development location. Through the provision of a National Maritime and Energy Campus, Ireland can achieve a competitive and sustainable maritime sector and drive a renewable and sustainable energy sector each supporting indigenous and international high end industrial development.

MERC builds on significant investment in maritime research and training in Cork, including the €50+ million development of NMCI and €15.6million in research awards to UCC from the prestigious Beaufort and Griffith programmes in 2007. The MERC I also brings together a critical mass of expertise from University College Cork with the National Maritime College of Ireland, including the Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service as well as the Port of Cork. Strategic links will be made to other third level institutions, statutory and commercial organisations to foster knowledge transfer. For example, opportunities for partnership are being explored with a global provider of navigation systems with its HQ in Cork Harbour. The aim is to provide a new focus on the economic dimension of the maritime domain, and in doing so to complement existing national capacity in marine sciences including areas such as fisheries ecology and oceanographic modelling covered by the Marine Institute.

Renewable ocean energy is one of the initial niche areas to be included. The national Ocean Energy Programme seeks to deliver world class solutions to the emerging ocean energy market helping MERC Ireland partners position Cork at the hub of national and international ocean energy R&D activities. The relocation of UCC’s Hydraulic and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) and the concentration of UCCs energy department to a premier new maritime and energy research facility in Ringaskiddy adjacent to NMCI forms part of this process. Linking ocean energy with the broader sustainable and renewable energy agenda allows for the complementary clustering of energy R&D thus helping to enhance the attractiveness of the region for clean, green, national and international industrial development. MERC-I partners are working with the IDA to realise these objectives for the energy sector.

Ringaskiddy will provide a natural focal point for MERC as it already hosts the NMCI, the Irish Naval Service and UCC’s Coastal and Marine Resources Centre as well as a host of International players such as Pfizers, Novartis etc. The development of a maritime innovation centre as well as space technology and energy competence centres providing support for incubation companies involved in the development of related software, engineering and IT products and services all form part of the Maritime and Energy Campus Ireland initiative. Collaboration with Enterprise Ireland is underway to realise these objectives.