Dr. Micheál Ó Cinnéide, ex diplomat, ex director of EPA and ex director at the Marine Institute.

With decades of service in the higher echelons of the Irish public and private sectors with a special focus on policy and advocacy for the environment, marine and sustainable development, Micheál brings a unique range of experiences to the National Park City Galway initiative.

He spent a decade as a Director with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a decade as Director of the Marine Environment team at the Marine Institute, was ministerial adviser in the Department of Marine and worked for eight years in Cill Chiaráin Connemara with the Irish Seafood Producers Group Ltd. He served as a diplomat at the Irish Embassy in Cairo and at the Consulate General of Ireland in New York.

Micheál was a co-founder of Corrib Beo Partnership, Galway, a voluntary group which promotes the sustainable development of the Corrib catchment; served as a Director with the Irish Forum on Natural Capital, www.naturalcapitalireland.com; and was co-founder/Director, Fondúireacht an Bhlascaoid (Blasket Island Foundation), a non profit cultural group dedicated to creating a National Historic Park on the Blasket Islands in Kerry.

Galway is so lucky to have such a talented person who is dedicated to continuing his life-long service for the benefit of the public good and to promoting sustainability, protecting the environment and in tackling the problems brought on by Climate Change.