Judging the Entries

The judging process for the LAMA awards is an integral part of the event. We have selected individuals to serve as judges who have distinguished themselves in their field and who demonstrate exceptional leadership ability and vision.

We make all efforts to avoid conflicts of interest in the judging process (such as inadvertently assigning a judge to evaluate an entry with which he/she is associated). At least two judges are assigned to each entry at random from within the pool of judges whose expertise is relevant. Any judges who find themselves with a conflict of interest are bound to come forward and let that entry be judged by someone impartial.

In evaluating the entries our judges utilize a comprehensive, points-based scoring system, dictated by the criteria for that particular category. By adhering to the specific guidelines and criteria of this system our judges are able to maintain the highest degree of fairness, accuracy and integrity and to competently and effectively evaluate entries. The average points will be taken forward and the top 8 in each category will be deemed finalists.

Judges

Roger Sweeney - Irish Water Safety
Alan Cooke - IAVI
Colin Walsh – MD of Irish Building Magazine
Ronald C. Cox - Director of Centre for Civil Engineering Heritage TCD
Dr Kevin Curran – Lecturer, University of Ulster
Denise McQuaid – MD of Ashville Media Group
Jeff Colley - Editor of Construct Ireland

Roger Sweeney - Irish Water Safety
Roger Sweeney is Marketing Executive and Deputy CEO of Irish Water Safety, the statutory and voluntary body established to promote water safety in Ireland. Roger’s primary role within Irish Water Safety is to raise public awareness and change attitudes and behaviours so that our aquatic environments can be enjoyed with confidence and safety. Roger also serves on the Council of the Marketing Institute of Ireland (West Chapter) and is a board member of The Wheel, a support and representative body for the Community and Voluntary sector.

Alan Cooke - IAVI
Alan Cooke became the Chief Executive of the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute (IAVI) in 1994, having previously served the Institute as its President in 1986-7.
On graduating from the College of Commerce in Rathmines, Dublin, where he studied auctioneering, valuation and estate agency, Mr. Cooke spent 12 years working at Finnegan Menton and a further 10 years in partnership with colleague, Hugh Cumisky.
Mr Cooke left that partnership of Cumisky & Cooke on being approached to take the position as Chief Executive of Ireland’s largest property body, the IAVI.

Colin Walsh – MD of Irish Building Magazine
Colin Walsh is Managing Director of Irish Building Magazine, Ireland’s most widely read business magazine for the building professional. Colin has a background in marketing and design and has over 15 years experience in publishing magazines for the building sector. Colin works directly with key government departments and semi state agencies, main contractors, architects, engineers, Local Authorities and industry representatives to promote and report on best practise in building. Colin is very involved in the promotion of health and safety and through Irish Building Magazine actively engages with the building industry and the public sector to improve and promote health and safety. He was a founder member of the Irish Building Magazine’s ‘Construction Excellence Awards’ (co-hosted with the Department of the Environment and the CIF) which promoted excellence in the Irish building sector. Commenting on the LAMA Awards Colin says “I am delighted to be part of the judging panel for the awards and look forward to helping to further the ongoing promotion of excellence in public sector projects”.

Ronald C. Cox - Director of Centre for Civil Engineering Heritage TCD
Dr Ronald Cox is a Chartered Engineer and well-known engineering historian. He is currently a Research Fellow and Director of the Centre for Civil Engineering Heritage at Trinity College Dublin. Until 1995, he was a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at TCD and a former Dean of Engineering. He is a founder member and former President of the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland, the current Chairman of the Engineers Ireland Heritage Society, and a member of the Board of the Irish Architectural Archive. Publications include Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), Ireland’s Bridges (2002), and Engineering Ireland (2006).

Dr Kevin Curran – Lecturer, University of Ulster
Kevin Curran BSc (Hons), DPhil, SMIEEE, MBCS CITP, MACM, ILTM is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Ulster. His achievements include winning and managing UK projects and numerous technology transfer schemes and was a finalist in the '2001 European Awards for the Spirit of Excellence'. He has published over 200 research papers to date in the field of computing and is a member of the Editorial Committee of numerous international research journals and conferences. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is also listed in the prestigious Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

Denise McQuaid – MD of Ashville Media Group
Denise McQuaid is Managing Director of Ashville Media Group the award-winning contract publishers behind many of Ireland’s most innovative and successful print solutions. Denise has 10 years experience in the publishing industry in Ireland and the United States, and has been a key contact for LAMA and other local government publications that Ashville Media has been involved with over the past seven years. She was instrumental in researching the viability of the awards scheme and has had a significant input at all stages of its development.

Jeff Colley - Editor of Construct Ireland
Jeff Colley has been the editor of Construct Ireland, Ireland's pioneering sustainable building magazine, since 2003. He is also a director of the Environmental and Sustainable Construction Association (EASCA), an organisation set up to create a distinction between truly environmentally low impact construction and the many products and systems which are not part of a sustainable future. Both Construct Ireland and EASCA have played an important role in promoting sustainability as a central concern for the whole construction industry rather than an aspiration for the enthusiastic environmentalist minority.