Membership Change, December 2010.
Having served the IRBC for a period of ten years, Paul Archer will retire from the Committee on the 31st of December 2010. Paul is highly respected by all who worked with him for his dedication to the Committee's work, his consistently objective, fair and independent views and his exceptional patience in dealing with trickier aspects of the Committee's work. His good grasp of technological matters enabled him to play a major role in the setting up and operation of the online Provisional List and he never shirked the more tedious slog of gathering photographic material for the Irish Rare Bird Reports. In addition to all of this, Paul's reliability, positive outlook and constant good humour combine to make Paul an individual with whom it is a pleasure to work. His contribution will be missed.
With Paul's departure, the Committee are pleased to announce that Harry Hussey has accepted an invitation to join the Committee as a voting member from the 1st of January 2011. A very active Cork birder with widely acknowledged field skills, Harry is well known and respected and has a keen interest in matters of identification which he has pursued in the field at home and abroad and in his constant perusal of birding literature. Additionally, Harry is a member of the editorial committee that produced the most recent and widely acclaimed Cork Bird report and has a strong interest in accurate recording of the avifauna of his native county and indeed found Ireland and Cork's first Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler as well as many other rarities. We welcome Harry to the Committee and feel sure that the Irish birding community will wish him well in his new role.