Conor Murray - Chair International Confederation of Contamination Control Societies (ICCCS) 2022-2024, Convener ISO/TC09 WG2, Microbiological Contamination Control in Cleanrooms, Head of Delegation for Ireland at ISO/TC 209, Irish Subject Matter Expert ISO/TC 209.

Thank you Natasa and Saso for inviting me to the celebration of the opening of your new offices and Calibration lab. It’s great to be back, I was only here in late January and before then in November, last year. It feels like this is becoming my 2nd home. I would like to thank my wife, Vee for joining me here, and its lovely to see the weather improve for the weekend, vs the rain in the last few days.  Your open welcoming hospitality and friendship is a very special to us, and very Irish.

What do you think of this as an office location? I really like the Pyramid design, it’s striking and just fabulous. I feel like this is the tip of a rocket ship, pointing at the planets. I believe Klimer too, has a bright future in the stars. 

And what about the professionalism around the opening – the music, food, and the ambiance - WOW? 

I am delighted to be here, and join you in this celebration, for the growing staff and family that is Klimer, and all of us too, we are in a partnership together. This may only be an opening of your new operations center but it is also the start of a new chapter in Klimer and reflects the importance and growth of Slovenia as a nation, and in Life Sciences. 

This is a good news story about the relevance of this center of excellence, and how welcome it is to support the growth of Life Science industry and community in Slovenia. All of us here today are directly or indirectly involved in serving this industry and this sustains our livelihood, our families, and our future.

We all know about the importance and contribution of the Life Science industry to the economy. GMP, (Good Manufacturing Practice) is the cornerstone of regulatory compliance as it focuses on product quality and our patient safety and well-being.  A key underlying reason for the continued existence and growth is down to the quality of our people.  We are the “safe pair of hands”, from a regulatory perspective that protects our loved ones, as patients.

Ireland has been at the core of European countries in Life Science innovation in manufacturing and quality. This is a result of a targeted and concentrated national policy of partnership of a triangle or 3-legged stool. This comprises Irish Government agencies such as the IDA, Institutions including Universities, and the final leg of the stool, is the Life Science Industry, Pharma, BioPharma, and Medical Devices.  Since the early 1960s, the Irish Government provided investment support, tax breaks, and support to navigate building codes around emissions, and waste treatment, as well as hiring new staff and employment laws to enable a fast start-up. On an ongoing basis, Institutions provide undergraduate and post-grad programs. NIBRT (National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Technology) was set up and co-located beside a national university and a ¢2b giga scale Pfizer plant in Dublin, and opened in 2011 to provide dedicated training in Biopharma processing for the Life Science industry, throughout Ireland.

Ireland and Slovenia have many things in common, even if we are separated by a great distance, and do not share a common heritage. Ireland is a small island nation, with a Celtic and Viking heritage along the western Atlantic coastline of Europe.   Slovenia has a longer and even more diverse past journey to ours, having a more benign and lush climate, and being connected to European land mass on the foothills of the Julian Alps.  Ireland was colonized by the English and fought over centuries for its independence, which finally came in 1921. 

Slovenia, as a gateway between the East and West of the Eurasian continent has been trampled on and dominated by an array of conquerors and hordes, over centuries. Like us, you have had to be patient and bend like a reed in the wind.  But you have survived as a people and a nation.  Our joint Catholic heritage is another bond between our two countries, creating stoicism and patience, an overriding belief in the importance of family ties, generosity in supporting our communities, and joy in friendships and sharing through music and a quiet drink. We are also a young nation with a passion for learning and education, so we can stand on our own and bow to no one ever again. Ireland is an island and a pimple on the edge of Europe. Our English language skills, high level of education, work ethos, and flexibility all contribute to Ireland’s success. We have leveraged our location as a bridge across the Atlantic, and our Irish American connections and coupled this with smart industrial and financial strategies to make Ireland an attractive location for investment and tax breaks. This has allowed us to stand out among much larger countries, cultures, and economies, that surround us.  

Slovenia has the same challenges as Ireland, but your solutions need to suit your needs and your location.  We embarked on our journey before you have, and can offer our learnings as a guide. We have Oysters, Guinness and Jameson but you have the most wonderful wines. Your journey over the last 30 years has been rapid, coming out of the Tito-led Yugoslavian unaligned countries into your independence in 1991 and then joining the EU in 2004. Like Ireland, the very size of your country means you have compact industry groupings, close together and connected physically and digitally, relative to other larger countries. We have turned this to our advantage, so you can too.  Slovenia may be a small country, like mine but your focus on innovation, attention to detail and flexibility delivers excellence in product quality and regulatory compliance.

I have spent my working life dealing with Ireland being so much smaller than other countries, so it is a new experience to be here and on the other side of size.

To quote Benjamin Franklin: “There are only two certainties in Life – Death & Taxes”. On the one side these Life Science companies contribute daily to the Slovenian economy as the earnings of staff and employees are spent in the local economy and investments in facilities are spread throughout the supporting infrastructure in your country, generating indirect taxes for the state. But more importantly your save lives, extend lives and enrich our quality of living and wellbeing.

I have been involved in Cleanrooms since my first job as a young process engineer in microelectronics,  in 1979.  It has been a wonderful and fulfilling career for me and I have travelled the world. In the last 25 years I have got involved in many organisations as a volunteer and technical expert, ICS, ICCCS, ISPE, PDA and more recently with ASHRAE. I now have 5 grandchildren, and with a passion for Climate rebalancing I want to be part of the solution and not part of their problem, in dealing with even more extremes of weather and seas rising.  Cleanrooms consume huge amounts of energy and we cannot continue to waste our scarce resources, when it is not necessary.  Good design and even better commissioning using new technologies gives us the opportunity and confidence to build and operate our Cleanrooms that are tuned to the contamination needs and demands. They should not be a one-size-fits-all Sledgehammer or “Blunderbuss”.   As Chairman of the International Confederation of Contamination Control Societies (www.icccs.net), with 23 countries represented I have met people in our industry all across the world and we are share a common vision – creating a better climate, consume less energy, and in a more efficient manner, but safe for our loved ones.

We are all experts here today, each of us in our ways and areas of expertise. You need to give Slovenia a voice at ISO and CEN level, particularly in ISO/TC 209.  It is now time for you as professionals in the Cleanroom industry, here today from a Life Science perspective to consider how you will support your Life Science industry here in Slovenia.

I talked earlier about our reputation as being a safe pair of hands. This is because we understand the importance of product quality, constant vigilance, individual responsibility and contribution to patient safety.

I have spent much of the last few minutes talking about the importance of people, and make no mistake – in our business everything is done between people, technology helps but we make the difference.  So, in closing I would like to pay tribute those people who made this project a success – it is you I pay homage to - every one of you here today and those than are unable to attend. 

In conclusion this “Safe pair of hands” is a critical success factor for the sustained presence and growth of Life Sciences in Slovenia, where GMP and product quality lead to patient safety and wellbeing.  This means you and I, our parents, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, children and grandchildren.

You have created this success. The challenge now is - how are you going to continue this journey, continue this success and more importantly inspire others and pass on the baton to the next generation.

This is your mission if you choose to accept!

It is now your time to shine – I am delighted to be here, again and I hope I can add my contribution to the growth and continued success of Slovenia Inc., now and in the future.

Thank you, and my congratulation to all of you again for a vibrant Life Science industry, and a “Safe pair of hands” for Slovenia.

Conor Murray