Former Attorney General and European Commissioner David Byrne has been awarded a prestigious international award for his work in the field of Public Health.
The award is sponsored by the Association of Schools for Public Health in the European Region (Aspher). Aspher is an independent organisation dedicated to strengthening the role of public health through the training of public health professionals for practice and research.
The Andrija Stampar Medal for excellence in the field of Public Health will be awarded to Mr Byrne at a ceremony this evening at a conference in Valencia.
The first European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr Byrne is credited with the restricting of tobacco advertising as well as bringing in accurate nutritional labelling on food.
As Attorney General, Mr Byrne set up the Ireland's Food Safety Authority, the first of its kind in Europe.
Mr Byrne was also Commissioner during the BSE crisis and oversaw the European response to Foot and Mouth, SARS and avian flu outbreaks.