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Coastal Development in Ireland
The new Ros an Mhíl development will be accessible to large vessels such as Naval Service vessels, Marine Institute research vessels, marine survey vessels and marine leisure craft
On Friday (24 February) Marine Minster Charlie McConalogue visited the site of the new deep-water quay development under construction at the State-owned Fishery Harbour Centre in Ros an Mhíl, Co Galway. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the new development will…
Ghostship: MV Alta was washed near Ballycotton, east Cork after Storm Dennis struck Ireland in February 2020. Since the incident, sea and weather has led the ship to breaking up with the aft section above on the rocky coast.
A ghost ship which washed ashore in Irish waters three years ago, which led to a report as to what to do with the abandoned 80m freight vessel on the east Cork coast, has still not been completed. In the…
Croagh Patrick rises serenely above Clew Bay, an unrivalled mingling of sea and land which is developing its own maritime culture of inter-mixed eco-friendly industry and recreation afloat
Clew Bay on the Mayo coast is in a league of its own. Outstandingly beautiful, with the serene peak of Croagh Patrick rising above Ireland’s most intricate and dynamic inter-mingling of sea and islands through many inlets large and small,…
Coastwatch co-ordinator Karin Dubsky
Restoration is the theme of a Coastwatch event to mark UN World Wetlands Day today in Co Wexford. The one-day event will include a keynote address by Tobias Salathe of the Ramsar Convention European office in Geneva, Switzerland. Ireland currently…
Launching Ireland's first (Mission Blue) Hope Spot was Aoife O' Mahony, Campaign Manager for Fair Seas, and Lucy Hunt (right), Founder of SeaSynergy, at Waterville, Co. Kerry
A large stretch of ocean off the south west coast of Ireland has been added to a list of ‘Hope Spots’ by a global marine conservation movement. Mission Blue is led by legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and now has…
Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan
Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan says that offshore wind generators will be required to make “substantial annual contributions” to community benefit funds. He says that coastal and marine communities will “benefit significantly from offshore renewable electricity projects” as a result.…
The MV Alta washed ashore at Ballyandreen Bay near Ballycotton in East Cork in February 202
Locals in the area where the ghost ship MV Alta washed ashore nearly three years ago say their lives have been changed for the worse by the wreck’s presence on their doorstep. Speaking to The Journal for a special feature,…
Strike-action:  Whiddy Island oil terminal has 31 permanent employees at the south-west Cork facility where the company is implementing five redundancies as part of the restructuring process. Above AFLOAT's scene of the tanker, Seasprat at the terminal's dedicated single point mooring in Bantry Bay.
Workers who are members of Ireland's largest trade union, SIPTU have notified Zenith Energy Bantry Bay Terminals located on Cork's south-west coast, that they will take strike action next month. The strike according to the Irish Examiner, is set to take…
NKT Victoria
NKT will be carrying out an ROV cable survey of the East-West Interconnector (EWIC) cable on behalf of EirGrid to determine the condition of the cable laid 10 years ago. The EWIC runs between Deeside in north Wales and Woodland…
Yvonne Cronin, community and stakeholder manager with DP Energy and Clean Coasts Ballynamona founder Proinsias Ó Tuama at the launch of the new sponsorship deal
Volunteer coastal cleaners in East Cork have gained the support of the joint venture behind a new proposed offshore wind farm project to boost their efforts in tackling the scourge of marine litter on the Irish coast. As the Irish…
The village of Carlingford on the Cooley peninsula is dominated by Slieve Foye and its slightly smaller sister Carlingford Mountain which is seen from the harbour
Tendering for the Narrow Water Bridge linking the Mourne Mountains and the Cooley peninsula is due to be initiated by the Government. Planning permission is already in place for a 280m cable-stayed bridge, anchored by two towers at either end,…
The Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg in the foreground, with Doughmore Beach and the Atlantic ocean curving away in the background
Former US president Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doonbeg has been warned by the local authority over what it claims to be an unauthorised fencing erected at the property. According to TheStory.ie, which has more details on the story, Clare County…
Smooth Point Quay at Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre
The Department of Transport has been advised that the Marine Engineering Division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is undertaking dredging and quay construction works at Smooth Point in Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre, Co Donegal. As previously…
File image of Dooega Head on Achill Island
Two sailors are recovering after their yacht washed ashore on Achill Island and was beached for three days before the alarm was raised, as RTÉ News reports. The 50-foot boat is understood to have got into difficulty amid stormy conditions…
Jonny McNee of the DAERA marine plan team photographs the rotor and rotor blades of the discovered Royal Navy Dragonfly helicopter
The crash site of a rare Royal Navy helicopter lost in 1958 has been discovered as part of a scientific survey of the Northern Ireland coastline. Remnants of the aircraft were initially spotted in aerial photos of Lough Foyle as…
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan announced the 18 successful recipients of the new €5 million fund
Training for communities in preparing Irish beaches and dunes for climate adaptation is one of 18 projects funded under the Government’s community climate action programme. The project on beaches and dunes is being led by Leave No Trace Ireland, and…

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.