Padraig O Ceidigh: PÁDRAIG Ó CÉIDIGH, who has died aged 75, was professor emeritus and former head of the department of zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
In Who's Who(1972) he stated that his ambition was for Ireland to make "full use of her marine resources", an objective of which he never lost sight.
To this end he carried out experiments to establish the possibility of rearing oysters in controlled conditions. His findings prompted Gaeltarra Éireann to launch a pioneering maritime venture.
Some major technical problems were overcome and in 1978 the Gaeltarra subsidiary Beirtreach Teo planned to produce 20 million oysters for export to mainland Europe.
As well as his input to job creation, he supported the efforts of drift-net fishermen to preserve their livelihoods. At a public inquiry into drift-net fishing in Connemara held in 1968 he said the prohibition of drift-net fishing was wrong since there was no restriction at rivers and weirs, where salmon were more vulnerable.
At a conference on the fishing industry in Galway in 1976 he said government policy could eventually lead to the death of the traditional fishing industry in Ireland.
He warned of the danger of an invasion by British fishing boats which had been recently excluded from Icelandic waters following the so-called cod war.
He argued that a 50-mile exclusion zone around Ireland would benefit not only this country but also Ireland's EEC partners, because it would provide a conservation zone for the regeneration of fish stocks.
Speaking at the launch of the Irish Marine Farmers' Association in 1980 he said that many locations suitable for mariculture were in poor areas, and it was important that communities rather than large companies should be encouraged to become involved.
He pointed to the benefits of using a natural resource whereby jobs could be created at little or no cost, no imported raw materials were necessary and the capital outlay was low.
In 1983 he spoke out against the withdrawal from service of the marine research vessel Lough Beltra, which was put into dry dock because the National Board of Science and Technology did not have the funds to maintain it in operation.
This showed a "terrible" lack of policy in relation to maritime matters, he said, in light of which "we have no right to open our mouths about foreigners sharing our maritime resources when we think so little of them".
Born in 1933, he was the second child of Patrick J Keady and his wife Eileen (née MacMahon). Educated at Blackrock College and University College Dublin, he secured a first-class honours science degree in 1955.
He first visited Carna as an undergraduate having met his wife, Máirín Ní Chonaire, a teacher, at a Conradh na Gaeilge céilí in Blackrock. He loved the Irish language and enthusiastically embraced the Connemara way of life and, indeed, style of dress.
He studied for both his master's degree and doctorate at NUI Galway, and later worked as a biologist with the Salmon Research Trust. He next joined the natural history department at Galway as an assistant lecturer, and became professor of zoology in 1962, retiring in 1999.
He was elected a member of the NUI Galway governing body for a total of 21 years between 1971 and 1998. He was a member of the senate of the NUI, elected by the governing body, from 1987 to 2002. Larger than life, he was an inspirational teacher and very popular with students. An ardent Francophile and advocate of lifelong learning, he found time in his mature years to learn Italian. His pastimes included painting, genealogy and history.
He is survived by his wife Máirín, sons Martin and Maurice and daughter Eileen.
Pádraig Ó Céidigh: born July 14th, 1933; died October 29th, 2008