Ireland bids to host ECMWF post-Brexit

blindsider · 22-09-2020 7:13pm #1

https://www.thejournal.ie/european-weather-forecasting-brexit-ireland-5212139-Sep2020/

"THERE ARE FEWER things that Irish people love talking about more than the weather, so it is no surprise that Ireland will formally bid to get the European centre for weather forecasting relocated from the UK to Dublin.

As a result of Brexit, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) will have to move from its current location in Reading to a European Member State.

Cabinet today agreed the government’s submission to have the centre located to Ireland.

If successful, the centre would be in a new facility in Cherrywood, Dublin.

The relocation would result in 250 jobs.

The deadline for submissions is the 1 October, with the winner due to be announced in December 2020.

Ireland is up against nine other Member States that are also participating in the competition.

The centre is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing weather predictions for European countries.

It also specialises in global weather forecasting about 2 weeks ahead of time, as well as producing longer-range forecasts for up to a year ahead, with varying degrees of detail, according to its website.

The centre has one of the largest supercomputer facilities and meteorological data archives in the world. It also uses an advanced computer modelling technique to analyse observations and predict future weather.

It is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 34 Member States.

Government sources are hopeful that Ireland will be successful in the competition, stating that it would align with the Irish Government’s Global Ireland strategy to increase the country’s “pull factor” for the creation of new green economy jobs."

It would be great to see it relocate here, but I assume that we'll face stiff competition.....

Wanderer78 · 23-09-2020 4:46am

blindsider wrote:

Government sources are hopeful that Ireland will be successful in the competition, stating that it would align with the Irish Governmentâ€™s Global Ireland strategy to increase the countryâ€™s â€œpull factorâ€ for the creation of new green economy jobs."

Jesus, this would be fantastic

Peregrinus · 23-09-2020 6:19am

We face competition from France, Italy, Spain and possibly others. The EDMWF's data centre is already in the course of relocating to Bologna, a move agreed in 2017; I don't know if this will give Italy an edge over the other bids.

sdanseo · 24-09-2020 7:34pm

If they figure out that we can't even keep 50% of our radars reasonably operational we're screwed.

Oneiric 3 · 25-09-2020 11:54am

I wonder how many of those 250 'new jobs' will be organic or just jobs that have been transferred from Reading?

Danno · 26-09-2020 11:08am

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

I wonder how many of those 250 'new jobs' will be organic or just jobs that have been transferred from Reading?

I would imagine a fair amount of the 250 would move here as opposed to going to France, Spain or Italy. English speaking country and similar culture would be the draw for re-locating.

bnt · 26-09-2020 12:32pm

I agree that people would move over from the UK at first, or work from there, just for the sake of business continuity. The high-tech industries in Ireland have always employed a high proportion of immigrants anyway - it's the reason I moved to Ireland myself, twenty years ago, and I still see that happening. The 250 jobs number should not be interpreted as 250 jobs for Irish people, it would mean 250 new taxpayers.

Oneiric 3 · 26-09-2020 4:13pm

bnt wrote: »

The 250 jobs number should not be interpreted as 250 jobs for Irish people, it would mean 250 new taxpayers.

As much as I would have suspected.

blindsider · 07-10-2020 6:15pm

...not starting a new thread for this....

https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/media-centre/news/2020/ecmwf-moves-towards-policy-open-data

From today (7 October 2020), hundreds of ECMWF forecast charts will become free and accessible to all.

Medium-range, extended-range and long-range forecast charts of temperature, wind, precipitation, clouds and ocean waves are just some of the products that are becoming available. With ECMWF’s focus on ensemble prediction, charts also cover probability-based information, which provides a guide to forecast confidence. The likelihood of extreme conditions, as well as tropical and extratropical cyclone activity, are also included.

This is pretty good:
https://apps.ecmwf.int/webapps/opencharts/products/medium-mslp-rain?base_time=202010070000&interval=6&projection=opencharts_europe&valid_time=202010071800

Kermit.de.frog · 24-11-2020 11:58pm

Dublin is in the shortlist of 9 cities.

https://twitter.com/MetEireann/status/1331173193151819776

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1EfjlWhqA

blindsider · 10-12-2020 2:49am

Oh well :-(

https://www.thejournal.ie/bonn-dublin-weather-5294277-Dec2020/

Dublin blown away by Bonn in post-Brexit bid to host European weather forecasting centre
A government plan would have seen 250 jobs in Cherrywood, Dublin

IRELAND’S HOPES OF becoming a new European centre for weather forecasting have been dashed as the city of Bonn was chosen instead.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has gone for the German city, noting that Bonn is “at the heart of Europe and very well connected”.

It means that Bonn will see a new facility built between 2023 to 2025 that will feature a 16 storey glass tower. Staff will begin working in the city in a temporary location from next year.

Ireland had bid to be the location for the new centre with a government plan that would have seen it located in Cherrywood, Dublin and the creation of 250 jobs.

The ECMWF is not an arm of the EU but is an independent intergovernmental organisation that provides weather data to member states.

The organisation was forced to make some changes because of Brexit and open offices in new locations that are eligible for EU funding.

The ECMWF will still be headquartered in Reading but this new centre in Bonn is in addition to another one in Bologna, Italy that is due to open in 2022.

The selection of Bonn was made by a panel of representatives from non-bidding member states.

The team noted that Bonn was home to “numerous UN agencies” and had a “clear strategic advantage” as being “within a radius of only a few hundred kilometres” of a number of other EU countries.

Ireland also lost on on previous post-Brexit bids to be the host to the European Banking Authority and European Medicines Agency.

Gaoth Laidir · 10-12-2020 8:44am

https://twitter.com/CopernicusECMWF/status/1336645474598653952?s=19

Oneiric 3 · 10-12-2020 5:48pm

blindsider wrote: »

Oh well :-(

The ECMWF is not an arm of the EU but is an independent intergovernmental organisation that provides weather data to member states.

It is an arm of the EU (and calling itself an 'independent intergovermental org' doesn't mean anything) and it makes big money from supplying data to more than just 'member states'. Why is the ECMWF being funded by the EU (I.E, the EU taxpayer') while it is still charging huge commercial prices for big profits for its grib data? I'll give the Americans one thing, they pay for the NOAA data and it is made totally available to them.

Can't say that I too bothered about where the ECMWF is located, it will make little difference to my life or to the lives of anybody else in this country.

Ireland bids to host ECMWF post-Brexit

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