The inspiration for this meeting arose several years ago when two of us (Mark Bailey [Armagh Observatory] and Albert White [Irish Light Pollution Awareness Campaign]) attended the very well organized Sixth European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky, held in Portsmouth, England, from 15–16 September 2006.

We are very grateful for the support of the organizers of that meeting in the present arrangements, and for the provision of leaflets and other material supplied courtesy of the British Astronomical Association Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS).

We also thank the core institutional supporters of the meeting: the Republic of Ireland’s Dis- cover Science and Engineering programme; the Armagh Observatory and its core funding agency the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL); the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), Dublin; and the Armagh and City District Council (ACDC). The important stimulus to astronomy education and public outreach activities provided by the United Nations International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009), particularly in the UK and Ireland, must also be acknowledged and recognized, and we particularly thank Mike Redfern, Robert Hill and Miruna Popescu (the all- Ireland IYA 2009 – Ireland Secretariat) for their support and encouragement in the arrangements for this meeting from its earliest days. Robert Hill (Northern Ireland Space Office, Armagh Plan- etarium) has played a sterling role in practical arrangements for the meeting, particularly on the educational side.

Finally, we thank the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) and IDA Europe in particular for their support; members of the Dark-Sky Discovery Project; all members of the Local Orga- nizing Committee (reflecting organizations such as the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies [IFAS], Astronomy Ireland [AI], the Irish Astronomical Association [IAA] and the Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society [NIAAS]); the Armagh Planetarium; and — last but not least — the many speakers and participants at the meeting who have helped to put Light Pollution and what to do about it on the public agenda, not just locally but throughout these islands and farther afield.

Albert White (ILPAC)
Terry Moseley (IAA)
Mark Bailey (Armagh Observatory)
2009 September 9