Birr goes radio ga ga over new telescope

A new state-of-the-art radio telescope planned for Birr Castle will bring Birr and its castle to prominence both in Ireland and abroad according to Birr native and Mid Ireland Tourism marketing manager Peter Ormond. News broke at the beginning of this week that businessman Dermot Desmond has pledged to provide funding for the project's development, following a meeting with scientists behind the plans last Friday. The new telescope, reported to cost in the region of €1.2m, would be the largest investment in astronomical equipment in Ireland since third Earl of Ross William Parsons built his Great Leviathan Telescope in Birr in the 1840s. Last Monday Trinity College's Professor Peter Gallagher told The Irish Times that Mr Desmond's funding pledge is a step in the right direction for the project. The proposed telescope will detect radio waves like those emitted by astronomical objects soon after the big bang. Already 50 such telescopes exist in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden and the UK, joining together in a network to form a more powerful telescope. A new Irish station in Birr would be connected to a centre in the Netherlands. According to Professor Gallagher, Birr is an ideal location for the new station, as the small amount of interference due to its rural location would make faint radio signals from objects in the early universe more detectable. The project would also see Birr's Science Centre expanded, which in itself would increase the appeal of Birr Castle and the surrounding area. According to Mr Ormond last Monday's news was welcomed joyfully in the town. "When the news broke on Monday morning there was great excitement and anticipation in Birr," he said. "The addition of new works taking place will bring it back into a focal point not just nationally but internationally."