IFHE’s new President, Norway’s Ole Rist (see also pages 18 and 19), was a guest at May’s IHEEM Northern Ireland Branch biennial conference and exhibition at the Slieve Donard Hotel and Spa in Newcastle, County Down (HEJ – April 2012), having been invited by Branch Secretary, Joanna Dougherty.
He writes: “The venue was set in beautiful surroundings, which were well worth visiting in their own right. I was able to see and hear about products and services from over 40 companies at a sizeable, well-attended exhibition, with many of the stands, due to their sheer size, being located outside the hotel. Among them were a moveable power plant with co-generation, a mobile operating theatre, and a transportable gas-fired heating and cooling unit, while I was also intrigued that a company had developed a water tap system that incorporates U/V lamps to combat Pseudomonas bacteria. The recent Northern Irish Pseudomonas outbreaks were discussed in a paper presented on the event’s second day by Dr Anne Loughrey, a consultant microbiologist at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. “The conference opened with welcoming speeches by myself, IHEEM President, Paul Kingsmore, and chairman of the IHEEM Northern Ireland Branch, Nigel Keery. Around 200 delegates attended, hearing presentations on a broad range of subjects. I would like to thank IHEEM for the opportunity to represent IFHE at the Northern Ireland Branch event, and to congratulate the Branch members on organising it so well.”
