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VETERINARY & RUGBY
PJ Dwyer is a former Ireland Rugby Union Player, Coach and Selector. He is a retired Veterinary Surgeon.

EARLY LIFE
PJ Dwyer was born in Co. Galway and reared on a family farm. He was educated at Duniry National School and Garbally College Secondary School, Ballinasloe. He qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon in University College Dublin (UCD).

Garbally College practiced a multi-sports ethos. Dwyer played rugby for Garbally, in the Connacht Schools Junior and Senior competitions. In Leaving Certificate year he was Captain of the School Hurling Team and, with three other schoolmates, had an outing in 1958 for the Galway Minors versus Clare Minors in Loughrea.

In his first year of Veterinary Medicine in University College Galway (UCG), Dwyer was selected for the Connacht Rugby Senior Interprovincial team as Prop-forward. At UCG he played, as selected, in many positions, including Prop-forward, Centre and Winger, with a trial for Connacht at Centre.

He continued his veterinary studies at the Veterinary College, Ballsbridge, UCD, Dublin. He lived with his widowed aunt in her grocery shop in inner city Dublin. He supplied security presence and served in the shop into late evenings. He continued to play rugby for Dublin Wanderers RFC and UCD RFC. While a student he was picked to play for Ireland.

He attended at shop, at the Veterinary College, Ballsbridge, at rugby training in Belfield, UCD, at weekend matches, and he cycled from one location to another. This proved a demanding routine. The time for veterinary studies was scarce with some examinations repeated. But he got there!

Playing position: Prop forward
Dwyer was a successful club, provincial and international rugby player. He played for his province Connacht. While still a student, he was selected six times to play for Ireland. He played five times, with injury intervening.

He won a Connacht Senior league and Senior Cup with UCG RFC. He won two Leinster Senior Cup Medals with UCD RFC, one at No 8 and the other at prop-forward. He was also selected as a member of Team of the Century [1910-2010] University College Dublin.

There was intense competition during his short tenure on the Irish team including a Final Trial. Ray McLoughlin, Sid Millar, Mick O’Callaghan, and Al Moroney, all competed for the prop-forward positions. The injury, after his Sixth Cap choice, enforced withdrawal.

After qualifying he resumed playing rugby at Athlone RFC. He represented Connacht again. Indeed, he captained Connacht. But he was unable to continue playing due to injury and the demands of veterinary practice.

RUGBY ADMINISTRATION / COACHING / SELECTION
Following a career change, Dwyer contributed further to Irish rugby. He did so firstly, in 1977-79, as a Club and Provincial Coach and Selector. Then in 1980-83 he was appointed the first Connacht Branch IRFU person as a Selector for the Irish Team. He was appointed Chairman of the International Selection Committee in 1982-83. In 1983-84, he was elected President of the Connacht Branch IRFU.

VETERINARY CAREER
On the grant of an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [Hon FRCVS] to Patrick Joseph [‘P.J.’] Dwyer in 1997, Professor R.S. Jones, the President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London, noting the long established statutory and regulatory relationship of the veterinary profession in Ireland and the UK, emphasised that Honorary Fellowship is awarded to a member ‘on the grounds of their special eminence in, and the services they had rendered to, the cause of veterinary science. The Royal College had unanimously elected PJ Dwyer as Honorary Fellow.’

The President of the RCVS said he would reflect only on some of PJ Dwyer’s activities, and he thanked the Registrar of the Veterinary Council of Ireland, Mr. Michael Fenlon, for preparing a résumé [updated and referenced] for citation.

PJ Dwyer, the President said, had graduated MVB, MRCVS, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin in 1965. He gained Doctor Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Certificate of Veterinary Qualification (by Examination), at Federal Government, Ottawa, and at Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

He worked as an Assistant to Frank Nolan MRCVS in General Veterinary Practice in Athlone, before emigrating to Canada in 1967. He worked in general veterinary practice in Ontario for approximately three years. He then returned to Ireland to become a partner in the newly established Athlone Veterinary Clinic. It was set up from three veterinary practices. It emphasized pooled resources and professional and administrative skills.

PJ Dwyer was a frequent contributor as a speaker at veterinary conferences in Ireland. And he was regarded as a pioneer in the area of veterinary practice management. He also took part in veterinary activities as Honorary Treasurer to the Irish Veterinary Association (1971-76) and Honorary Secretary to the Irish Veterinary Union (1972-73).

In 1975, after 10 years in general veterinary practice, the Department of Agriculture appointed PJ Dwyer as Research Officer at the Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Athlone. In 1989 he was appointed as Senior Research Officer and Officer-in-charge, where he worked until he retired.

The President of the RCVS noted that, in addition to his daily veterinary diagnostic and administrative workload, PJ Dwyer, with colleagues, in 1983, had compiled a veterinary textbook, Sheep: Production, Diseases and Marketing. He also had an extensive list of scientific publications on a wide variety of topics.

University College Dublin, in 1991, awarded him Master in Veterinary Medicine [MVM] for his novel thesis entitled ‘A study of peri-natal lamb mortalities in Ireland’.

The Turf Club in 1992 appointed him a Member of the Advisory Committee, which examined tenders from competing laboratories for the Detection of Prohibited Substances in Racing Horses. The Turf Club in 1995 re-appointed him, with others, to advise on the organization, staffing and equipment necessary for the Equine Science Forensic Unit to conduct its functions.

In 1995, the RCVS London requested him to be the Irish adviser to prospective candidates seeking the Certificate or Diploma in Sheep Health and Production.

From 1982-2002 he was elected every four years to the Veterinary Council of Ireland. He was elected President of that body in 1994-96. He was re-elected as President in 1996-98. He was elected Treasurer in 1998 ending in 2002, when he retired from Council.

As President of the Veterinary Council, PJ Dwyer was mainly responsible for commissioning the Delany report on 'The Future of the Veterinary Profession in Ireland.'. As a result of this report, Continuing Professional and Veterinary Practice Standards were introduced, with the major influence of Frank McRory and Sean O’Laoide [each later elected President of the Veterinary Council], into Veterinary Practitioner legislation 2005, as a requirement for annual re-registration. The President of the RCVS noted that this Report was widely regarded as one of the most significant milestones in veterinary affairs. Also, during his tenure as President of the Council, Mr. Dwyer was Chairman of the INTERNATIONAL VISITORS REPORT ON THE VISITATION [19TH – 23RD FEB 1996] OF THE FACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, MARCH 1995. This Report finally galvanized the State into the design and building of the Veterinary Faculty’s new facilities at the UCD campus, Belfield. These new facilities were a necessary and fundamental step in the recognition of UCD Veterinary graduates in the US. In addition, they supported the training and qualification of US citizens in the Veterinary Faculty UCD, with positive cost-benefit impact.

From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Dwyer played a lead role in the procurement and design of the modern veterinary facilities built at the Regional Veterinary Laboratory Athlone. The air flow within enclosed working facilities was funneled in one-direction through HEPA filters. Thus, Biosafety Containment Levels were achieved. Staff and the local community, including a nearby national school with its complement of pupils, were thereby protected from exposure to infectious aerosols issuing from an uncontrolled environment.

In presenting him with his scroll of Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the President of the Royal College Veterinary Surgeons emphasized that, being innovative and strategic, his colleagues widely regarded PJ Dwyer as a pillar of the veterinary profession who had received wide commendation.

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