Evidence that great change is taking place in Irish Lights can be seen in Dun Laoghaire over this past year. The construction of our new Corporate Headquarters began when contractors moved in on 4 January 2006. Throughout the year the building has been emerging behind the hoardings as normal productive work has continued in the rest of the restricted space. The end of October witnessed completion of Phase I when the move into the new Engineering Operations Building took place. Demolition of the rest of the workshops to enable the construction of the circular Administration Building has begun, with a scheduled completion date in the autumn of 2007.

Irish Lights has had its headquarters at 16 Lower Pembroke Street since 1961. Feelings of nostalgia accompanied the sale of the building during the summer, in preparation for the move to Dun Laoghaire. We will continue to occupy the building until the autumn of 2007.

Integrating and streamlining the organisation was the purpose of the business process review completed in 2005. Implementation of the recommendations of that review reach into all aspects of the work we do. Change can be an unsettling experience but the response has been one of formulating and embracing the changes that are taking place.

Change is also happening in the General Lighthouse Authorities' shipping fleet. A new 40m rapid intervention vessel, THV Alert, was introduced into Trinity House Lighthouse Service in the summer. Two new ships based on the proven ILV Granuaile design, NLV Pharos, for the Northern Lighthouse Board, and THV Galatea for Trinity House were launched in Poland during 2006 and will enter service in 2007. We wish these ships good passage and many successful years operation in the stewardship of safe navigation at sea.

e-Navigation was defined by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) earlier in the year as the collection, integration and display of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means, to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services, safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment. Irish Lights is in a position to contribute to the development of many of the building blocks in this concept. The e-Navigation concept was further endorsed at the very successful XVIth IALA Conference hosted by the China Maritime Safety Agency in Shanghai in May 2006. The theme of the conference was Aids to Navigation in a Digital World. Of particular significance to Irish Lights was the conclusion that e-Navigation is the way forward, while there is a continuing role for short range aids to navigation in the new digital age, and there is continuing need for the IALA differential GPS service.

None of the progress in Irish Lights could have been made without the support of our Commissioners and the dedication of all our employees. In particular my thanks are due to everyone in Irish Lights Dun Laoghaire for their patience during current work and to the project team for managing an intricate project while maintaining day to day operations on the site. The year ahead will again bring with it many more interesting developments and challenges for us all.

I wish you and your families a happy Christmas and best wishes for 2007.

Stuart Ruttle,

Chief Executive.