Fr Peter McVerry SJ has been awarded the title of honorary fellow of Engineers Ireland for his commitment and work to reduce homelessness and social disadvantage in Ireland over many years at Engineers Ireland’s national conferring ceremony held on Friday, May 24, 2019.

One of highest honours

Honorary fellowship is the highest honour, other than the presidency, that Engineers Ireland can bestow. It is conferred on those distinguished by the importance of their work in engineering, science or other areas whom Engineers Ireland wishes to honour. [caption id="attachment_50384" align="alignright" width="300"] L-R: Fr Peter McVerry SJ; Engineers Ireland president, Peter Quinn; director general Caroline Spillane; and Liam Henry, COO, COLAS Ireland. Photo: Peter Houlihan[/caption] Fr McVerry, who established his first hostel for homeless boys in 1979, and went on to found the Arrupe Society – later renamed the Peter McVerry Trust, received a standing ovation at the Dublin ceremony where more than 90 members of Engineers Ireland were conferred with registered professional titles. Liam Henry, chief operating officer of COLAS Ireland joined Fr McVerry as a recipient of the honorary fellow title. Both men were presented with their honorary fellowships by Peter Quinn, president of Engineers Ireland. Also attending the ceremony was Caroline Spillane, director general and vice-president, Marguerite Sayers. A total of 80 chartered engineers also received their professional titles at the event from Engineers Ireland’s president. Achieving the title of chartered engineer is a public statement of an engineer’s competence to practice as a professional and is a seal of approval by their peers that they have developed an ability beyond that achieved during their academic years to that of a professional practitioner. A total of 10 members also received the title of Fellow, the highest level of membership awarded by Engineers Ireland. This title is reserved for engineers who have demonstrated a significant level of experience and professionalism. As president of Engineers Ireland, Peter Quinn also had the privilege of issuing a presidential invitation to become a fellow of Engineers Ireland to 10 conferees, with seven presented at the evening ceremony. Those in receipt of the prestigious title included: Dr Amanda Gibney, vice-principal for teaching and learning for the College of Engineering and Architecture at UCD; Dr Sarah Ingle, secretary general of the ACEI; Pat Lucey, president of the Construction Industry Federation and director with John Sisk and Son holdings; Emer Murnaghan, vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and head of responsible sustainable business at GRAHAM; Liam Murray, technical standards specialist at Irish Water; John Pentony, managing director of Jons Civil Engineering and Professor Su Taylor, dean of research for the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science at Queen’s University Belfast.

50th anniversary of awarding of title, chartered engineer

This year Engineers Ireland marks the 50th anniversary of the awarding of the title, chartered engineer. In the Republic of Ireland the organisation is the sole authority who can award the title. [caption id="attachment_50385" align="alignright" width="300"] L-R: Dr Amanda Gibney, vice-principal for teaching and learning for the College of Engineering and Architecture at UCD; John Pentony, managing director of Jons Civil Engineering; Fr Peter McVerry, S,J founder of the Peter McVerry Trust; Dr Sarah Ingle, secretary general of the ACEI; Peter Quinn, president of Engineers Ireland; Pat Lucey, president of the Construction Industry Federation; Liam Henry, chief operating officer of COLAS Ireland; Professor Su Taylor, dean of research for the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science at Queen’s University Belfast and Emer Murnaghan, vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and head of responsible sustainable business at GRAHAM.[/caption] Peter Quinn, president of Engineers Ireland, said: “I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to each of our conferees who achieved registered professional titles this evening. "The year 2019 is an exciting year for Engineers Ireland and our 25,000-strong membership, as we celebrate the establishment of our chartered engineer title, 50 years ago. "This title is widely considered to be the gold standard of the engineering profession. I am very pleased to see that 80 members of Engineers Ireland have been conferred with this title, in addition our 10 members who have achieved the prestigious title of fellow.” In addition to those conferred at the Dublin ceremony, more than 300 members achieved a registered professional title with Engineers Ireland this year and were conferred at ceremonies in the North East, Northern, Cork, Midlands, West, South East, Thomond and Great Britain regions over the last number of months. A registered professional title from Engineers Ireland provides peer reviewed and internationally recognised formal recognition of our members’ professional competence and is an accolade associated with the very best of the engineering profession. For further information on registered professional titles please click here or contact the Membership Team at +353 (0)1 6651 334 or email: membership@engineersireland.ie.