THAT'S A WRAP on MIIN in Kerry!

On Thursday evening, MIIN attendees were treated to a taster session with the local Tom Crean Brewery, Kenmare, where brewery owners Bill and Aileen spoke about their sustainable practices while brewing and gave us insights into their use of seaweed and Irish carrageen moss in their clarifying and brewing processes.

Aileen is the granddaughter of renowned Irish explorer, Tom Crean. She recounted the launch of the Marine Institutes RV Tom Crean earlier this year, where instead of champagne, Aileen was honoured to mark the launch of the new research vessel with her very own Tom Crean Brewery craft beer. MIIN members got to sample various flavours on the night and were impressed by the knowledge these expert craft brewers brought to the table.

With 86 people registered for the event, Friday morning saw almost 60 attendees at the #MIINinKerry event in the Rose Hotel Tralee. Guests networked over coffees before MIIN Co-ordinator Liam Curran (Enterprise Ireland) welcomed everyone and introduced us to MIIN, while Majbritt Bolton-Warberg, Blue Bioeconomy Programme Manager at the Marine Institute, provided an insight into what exactly is the Blue Bioeconomy and why we chose Bioeconomy Ireland Week 2023 to showcase Irelands Blue Edge in the sector.

Our keynote presentation was delivered jointly by Cliodhna Griffin, Business Development Executive, and Ronan Cooney, Sustainability Officer from BIM, who spoke about Sustainability and the Circular Economy and it’s role and impact within the seafood sector. BIM are already working on projects for 2024 and beyond and their slides can be seen here.

Following this, local MIIN member companies took to the stage to promote their businesses who are working in the Blue Bioeconomy, again with a particular focus on sustainability and the circular economy. We heard from some fantastic local speakers including:

• Sharon Sugrue, Réalt na Mara Shellfish (Slides)
• Kieran Guinan, BioAtlantis
• Susan Whelan, Irish Seaweed Consultancy
• Henry Lyons, Nutramara (Slides)

Our audience broke for another networking opportunity before taking their seats for the final session of the afternoon. Údarás na Gaeltachta’s Máire Éinniú took to the stage as host and moderator of our panel discussion – How to Grow and Diversify Blue Bioeconomy Businesses at Local or Regional levels.

Máire led an enthralling discussion with our fantastic panellists, touching on topics such as turning waste streams into resources, CE marks, route-to-market challenges and scaling Ireland’s Blue Bioeconomy to levels seen abroad in Canada, the UK, and the EU. Our panellists included:

• Brett Wesley, Brandon Bioscience
• Catriona Power, Circular Bioeconomy Cluster South-West
• Tim Yeomans, Shannon ABC
• John Browne, De Brún Iasc Teo.

MIIN would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made our #MIINinKerry event a success. To our speakers, our panellists, our hosts, and our audience – thank you for joining us. We hope to see you all again at our next event.

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If you have any questions or news you would like to share, please contact us on MIIN@bluewisemarine.ie