After the CIHT Presidential Inauguration which saw Professor Glenn Lyons elected as CIHT President, Glenn travelled straight to Dublin from London, for his first presidential visit. CIHT Chief Executive Sue Percy joined Glenn, as they were hosted by the CIHT RoI group. 

Reflecting on the visit, CIHT President Professor Glenn Lyons said, “It was an energising trip to start off my year of presidential duties and a fantastic opportunity to connect face-to-face with colleagues from CIHT’s RoI Committee as well as the Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee. And my personal thanks to Glenn Hingerty for his thoughtful stewardship of the visit.

It was inspiring to see what TU Dublin’s masters students in Sustainable Transport and Mobility were capable of achieving in a four-day visioning project for a town (if you get the chance to have a place on this course, take it!). We had a ‘prelude’ glimpse of the new National Train Control Centre before it went live.

However, the highlight for me was our visit to the recently opened Wayfinding Centre. This facility in Dublin allows people to take a close look at the design of the built environment and ask – “is it accessible for all?”. Hosted by Jody Morris, a big thank you to Helena and Jake for being so generous in sharing your lived experience of disability as young people in Ireland with the answer to that question being “No” – there is much more to be done”.

The trip began with Glenn arriving by ferry, where he was met by Glenn Hingerty, CIHT RoI committee member who played a leading role in organising the presidential visit. 

The pair travelled to Technological University Dublin (Tu Dublin) to meet masters students at their summer school on the Sustainable Transport & Mobility course, accredited by CIHT for the Chartered Transport Planning Professional qualification. There they sat on a critique panel for student presentations, hearing from two student teams who had each developed a strategy for the town of Enfield. 

On the evening of day one, the delegation was joined by guests as they enjoyed an evening meal at Gallagher’s Boxty House. At the dinner, Glenn was able to meet members from the group and industry colleagues, providing the chance to network and discuss the opportunities and challenges the sector faces.

The second day was dedicated to technical visits, joining Glenn Lyons and Sue Percy for the visits were Matt Steele, CIHT RoI Chair, Stephen Bradshaw, CIHT Northern Ireland Chair, Brendan Mitchell, Engineers Ireland Roads and Transportation Society Chair, and CIHT RoI committee members and guests. 

In the morning, up first was a visit to the Wayfinding Centre, by Vision Ireland, a new navigation laboratory for inclusivity & accessibility for those with vision and mobility impairments. The Wayfinding Centre is an innovative, multi-functional centre which will be driven by the need to make transport accessible for everyone. 

Bringing the trip to a close, the afternoon session was a visit to the new National Train Control Centre (NTCC) with Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail. The NTCC and the Traffic Management System will optimise and enhance the operations of Iarnród Éireann's train services.

During his time in Dublin, Glenn had the opportunity to meet CIHT members from the Republic of Ireland, colleagues from across the sector and masters students at Tu Dublin.

It was a great visit to to start off Glenn's year of presidential duties providing the opportunity to build relationships, hear from members and fellow professionals, with two technical visits delivering CPD and learning. 

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