PRESIDENT McALEESE highlighted the Government's commitment to energy-related research at an ocean energy seminar in Norway yesterday.
During a speech delivered at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim on the third day of her state visit, Mrs McAleese spoke of the Government's intention, announced in March of this year, to invest €200 million over the next few years in energy-related RD.
"If we are to become low-carbon economies, if we are to ensure sustainable economic success and prosperity in the years to come, then this focus on emerging renewable technologies is essential," she said.
Mrs McAleese described ocean energy as "an area of strategic environmental and commercial importance to both Norway and Ireland".
She said that the two countries are "leading the way in the development of this new technology which has the potential to unlock the abundant resources of wind and waves along our Atlantic coasts".
"The greater the co-operation across boundaries the quicker the solutions will reveal themselves," the President said. She also spoke about Ireland's national marine research strategy, and how by raising the profile of the marine sector "we hope to build on its growing capacity to attract foreign investment".
After leaving the university, which educates about 80 per cent of Norway's civil engineers, the President joined the king and queen of Norway on a visit to Nidaros Cathedral, the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world.
There they listened to a Gregorian chant performed by Schola Sanctae Sunnivae Choir, named after the Irish princess who became the patron saint of western Norway.
The President and royal couple were then guests of honour at a lunch hosted by the mayor of Trondheim.
Afterwards they crossed the Trondheim Fjord by ferry to visit the Museum of Coastal Heritage at Rissa where they watched a parade of traditional Norwegian and Irish boats, celebrating the maritime link between Ireland and Norway.
The President, accompanied by her husband Dr Martin McAleese and Trevor Sargent, Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, was due to fly back to Ireland yesterday evening.