Here at healycornelius design, we are extremely proud to announce that our Director, Michael O’Keeffe FCIAT MCIOB MCABE, was presented with the prestigious Gold Award at the AT Awards in London on Friday, 25 October 2024 for outstanding services to the Institute and Republic of Ireland.
This award recognises and celebrates Michael’s dedication and commitment as a Chartered Architectural Technologist. Unlike typical individual awards, the Gold Award is not based on time-served but on the significant contribution or outstanding service of a Chartered Architectural Technologist to the Institute.
Since its inception, there have been 87 Gold Awards bestowed to Chartered Architectural Technologists, including 7 from the Republic of Ireland. Furthermore, Michael is one of the youngest recipients in the history of this prestigious award.
Full Citation as published in the AT Journal #151 – Autumn 2024
Michael Padraig O’Keeffe FCIAT for outstanding services to the Institute and Republic of Ireland Centre.
Michael O’Keeffe is a super positive and enthusiastic Chartered Architectural Technologist. At a young age, Michael first stepped into the role as Republic of Ireland Centre Education Officer and visited almost every AT degree programme in the Republic of Ireland promoting membership and encouraging others to apply for Accreditation. This enthusiasm and passion set the stage, and nine years on, Michael continues to coordinate everyone and everything within the Centre in his role as Chair.
Michael leads by example and has taken on many other significant roles within the Republic of Ireland Centre. He has been a pioneer for statutory recognition of the Architectural Technologists’ Register and sits on the ATR Working Group, meeting with Ministers of State and representatives from Government Departments. He has volunteered and sits on the ATR Admissions & Assessment Board reviewing applications, and to date 95 ATs have been elected to the Shadow Register.
On behalf of CIAT, Michael has presented at the National Construction Summit, the National Building Control Conference and the International Construction Management Conference. Michael has also travelled the length and breadth of Ireland to be a friendly face and CIAT representative at the Centre stand, at conferences including the International Congress on Architectural Technology, National Construction Summit and CIF Southern Construct Summit. All while keeping the membership up to date with the quarterly Republic of Ireland Centre Newsletter. He has almost single-handedly taken charge of the newsletter content and editing, ensuring members and affiliates are fully aware of the work of Central Office and the Centre Committee locally. The significance of the newsletter is vast, reaching all members and increasing membership engagement. Public awareness of the Institute and the profession of Architectural Technology has further developed through Michael’s work with the newsletter and positive social media engagement.
Michael has also represented the views of the Irish membership as Centre Councillor for two consecutive terms (6 years), also serving on the Executive Board as Councillor Trustee during his tenure.
Michael is a very busy man dedicating much of his free time to promoting the Institute and the profession, but he always has time for fun and has attended many CIAT social events and gatherings. Along with the Centre Committee, Michael has helped organise the first of many events including CPD & Golf; CPD Architectural Tour of the Guinness Storehouse; TU Dublin AT Gathering; and Committee meetings coinciding with Christmas Parties! Having attended every AGM since 2017, Michael is no stranger to a good Friday night social event! This positive social engagement has formed a vast network between CIAT Republic of Ireland and industry leaders, sponsors and with third level academics.
His enthusiasm for the profession and Institute has no end, he is constantly engaging with members and offering support. Michael is always keen to encourage young members, he is wise beyond his years and has a wealth of knowledge within the industry. Michael has so much more passion to give to the profession and to CIAT.
