In this issue, the featured section from the GSI is our Minerals Section. The Section at present comprises the Head of Section Gerry Stanley (Senior Geologist), Claudia Loesch (a recently recruited Temporary Graduate Geologist) with part time support from Dolores Duffy (a Clerical Officer). In addition there are consultants working under Gerry's direction on a number of projects – Vincent Gallagher and Fionnuala Ni Mhairtin (on historic mine sites) and Michael Philcox and Phelim Lally (on aggregate potential mapping). There are six articles on some of the work being carried out in the section covering projects on Aggregate Potential Mapping, Historic Mine Sites, Celtic Copper, Avoca remediation study, Airborne surveys, Irelithos and the recent Society of Geology Applied to ore Deposits (SGA2007) conference on mineral deposits held in Trinity College in Dublin.

We continue our series on the geology of the Counties of Ireland with summaries of the Geology of County Monaghan. There are also articles by Beatriz Mozo of the Quaternary and Geotechnical Section on a new viewer for geotechnical data on the GSI website and one by Ray Scanlon on spatial data available on the GSI website. Koen Verbruggen and Vincent Gallagher write on some recently acquired new equipment. There is also an update on the International Year of Planet Earth by Enda Gallagher.

Most of the articles in Geology Matters are written by geologists – but what is the collective noun for a group of geologists? Rockbits addresses this burning question.

Enjoy your read.