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Coastal Development in Ireland
Méabh Ní Ghionnáin and Kaitlyn Dow with the unmanned sailboat that brought them together
#Lancer - An American high school student this week made the trip across the Atlantic to meet the Galway schoolgirl who found her marine science project mini-yacht last year. Kaitlyn Dow from Waterford High School in Connecticut met eight-year-old Méabh…
Bray Harbour Action say delay in dealing with sand build-up could leave the harbour as a 'permanent derelict eyesore'
Bray Harbour Action Group (BHAG), at its meeting on Tuesday 21st Feb, welcomed the report by District Manager Des O Brien to the Bray Municipal District meeting on 7th February as reported in the Bray People of 18th February here.…
An architect's image of the Maritime Museum & Archive Centre in Derry would look like in the Waterside area of the city
#MaritimeMuseum -  A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council has confirmed to Afloat that plans for creation of a Maritime Museum and Archive Centre is currently at the development stage. The project is being taken forward by Derry…
One of the palm oil ‘fatbergs’ washed up at Hoare’s Rock in Skerries last weekend
#CoastalNotes - Fingal County Council has issued a warning for people to be vigilant for palm oil ‘fatbergs’ along the North Dublin coast as they can be particularly dangerous to dogs. A number of fatty balls were found on Sunday…
Killary Harbour between Counties Galway and Mayo
#Archaeology - With yet another stormy weekend comes news that continued coastal erosion on the West Coast has exposed the remains of a shipwreck at Killary Harbour. According to The Irish Times, the wreck on Tallaghbaun Strand is already known…
NEW EXHIBITION: The permanent exhibition honours the crew of German vessel Aud which was scuttled in Cork Harbour in 1916.
#Exhibition - A new permanent display commemorating the gun-running ship Aud opened recently on Spike Island, Cork Harbour. The exhibition writes East Cork Journal honours the men and crew of the German vessel which was scuttled in the harbour in…
Former pilot station ship Edmund Gardner off Liverpool's old landing stage 1950s-60s. Tours of the vessel are part of the In Safe Hands Exhibition.
#Exhibition - Dublin Port has strong historical trading links across the Irish Sea with the Port of Liverpool. The English north-west port is where an exhibiiton: In Safe Hands-The Story of the Liverpool Pilots is on display at the Merseyside…
Cuban Migrant Boat Found On Sligo Beach
#CoastalNotes - An unusual vessel that washed up in Co Sligo at the weekend has been traced thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic – to Cuba. According to BBC News, Gordon Fallis was walking his dogs on the beach near…
Connemara Sea Scouts prepare the Transatlantic Lancer for sea again
When Kaitlyn Dow of Waterford High School in Connecticut put a shout–out through Afloat.ie last September for people to look out for her unmanned yacht off the Galway coast, little did she realise she would be travelling across the Atlantic to meet…
Trump International Golf Links & Hotel at Doonbeg, Co Clare
#Doonbeg - More than 30 individuals and organisations have submitted objections to the proposed coastal defence works at the Doonbeg golf resort purchased by US President Donald Trump. Surfers, environmentalists and some local residents comprise the stanch opposition to the…
Lecture: "Leinster's Sister: The Sinking of the RMS Connaught"
#RMSconnaught - In 2018 is the centenary of the sinking of mail-boat RMS Leinster off the Kish Light by a German U-Boat in WWI, what is less well known is the sinking of sister RMS Connaught on 3 March 1917.…
Howth’s new small fishing craft pontoon in County Dublin
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, today announced details of a €28m Capital Investment Package for the ongoing development of Ireland’s Local Authority owned small harbour network. (see Table 1 below for details)In announcing the…
‘Think Before You Flush’ Initiative Adds More Communities
Clean Coasts partnered with Irish Water, for the second year running, launch the ‘Think Before You Flush’ Community Initiative. This programme aims to tackle the problems sanitary products can cause our waste water network and marine environment if flushed down…
Camac, a Dublin Port pilot cutter launch with a containership underway in Dublin Bay
#ShippingReview - Jehan Ashmore reviews the shipping scene from among the following stories of recent weeks. ‘Safe and sustainable’ marine transport and ‘delivery of emergency management services’ have been made a high level goal in the Department of Transport’s Statement…
File Photo: Stena Horizon which this afternoon docked in Rosslare. In the shadow of the ferry is alongside the 'bunker' tanker Mersey Spirit (see today's report). Also seen is the arrival of timber trader cargoship Ayress. The Irish Rail operated port has waived fees for cruiseships visiting from this year's season and up to 2019.
#Dredging - In recent weeks at Rosslare Europort a dredging programme was conducted within the harbour to remove spoil offshore, writes Jehan Ashmore. Dredging operations were carried out by Sospan Dau and assistance from tug Trojan. The resultant spoil was…
Satellite view of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the island of Ireland
#LoughNeagh - Friends of the Earth (FoE) is appealing a ruling against its claims that Stormont is “turning a blind eye” to sand dredging in Lough Neagh, as the News Letter reports. The environmental group brought the issue before the…

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.