Word is out that Sean O'Laoire of Murray O'Laoire Architects, is to be the next president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI). He will be seen as a popular appointment among members as much for being a genuinely nice bloke as for his professionalism.

He takes up the reins from Jim Pike of O'Mahony Pike Architects, who took time out from a his busy practice to run the show, and bang the drum for high density in the city.

O'Laoire is well equipped to carry this through, with a vast and smooth running team in offices in Dublin and Limerick.

It will be interesting to see if the RIAI is ready to dovetail with politics, now that Minister for the Environment John Gormley, has launched a New Policy On Architecture. This has been introduced with the aim of placing "more emphasis on sustainable developmentand on urban design and to . . . encourage and support high quality modern architecture".

This sounds good on paper, but he will need local authorities to row in behind him and we all know what that means.

O'Laoire's approachability and keen sense of social justice makes him well placed to tackle issues at this level.

He might also be extremely busy dovetailing with the politics of health given his company's expertise in designing hospitals.