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Displaying items by tag: Enniskillen

#Rowing: Skibbereen took two titles and NUIG took three from the second set of finals on the third day of the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre.

Gary O’Donovan and Denise Walsh had very easy wins in the bright sunshine in the finals of the lightweight single sculls. NUIG’s victories – which bring them to eight so far – came in the men’s intermediate pair, where they were tested by Shandon; the women’s intermediate coxed four and the men’s club coxed four.

NUIG Inter Pair beat Shandon ChampsNUIG celebrate after beating Shandon in the intermediate men's pair

Eliza O’Reilly and Gill McGirr have been the best junior pair in the country this year and the Fermoy crew proved it with their convincing win. Daire Lynch was similarly emphatic as he took the intermediate single sculls title for Clonmel.

Fermoy WJ2 Win at ChampsFermoy on their way to winning the women's junior pair

Rory Quinn and Oisin Clune of Three Castles added another win to the one they had earlier taken in the junior quadruple when they won the junior double.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day Three (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Novice: Queen’s 6:21.56.

Four – Club, coxed: NUIG A 6:43.38.

Pair – Inter: NUIG 6:56.09

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Three Castles 6:21.53, 2 Shandon 6:22.75, 3 Clonmel 6:23.05.

Double – Junior: Three Castles A 6:50.22.

Single – Lightweight: Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:22.32. Inter: Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:10.25.

Women

Four – Inter, coxed: NUIG 7:23.65.

Pair – Senior: UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 7:37.41. Junior: Fermoy 7:53.37.

Sculling, Single – Senior: Old Collegians (S Pupsure) 8:02.64. Lightweight: Skibbereen (D Walsh) 8:09.96. Club One: Carlow (C Nolan) 8:15.22.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD’s Eimear Lambe and Aileen Crowley had an impressive win in the women’s senior pair in the deferred finals at the start of the third day of the Irish Championships at the National Rowing Centre. Skibbereen and Cork were in the touch with the UCD women until 1500 metres, but Lambe and Crowley left the rest behind from there and won by 10 seconds from Skibbereen.

Queen’s were also impressive in their win in the men’s novice eight, and Sanita Puspure won the senior single sculls with plenty to spare.

The junior 16 men’s eight went to Enniskillen, who thus completed the set of wins: the junior 18 and 16 eights for men and women.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day Three (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Novice: Queen’s 6:21.56.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Three Castles 6:21.53, 2 Shandon 6:22.75, 3 Clonmel 6:23.05.

Women

Pair – Senior: UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 7:37.41.

Sculling, Single – Senior: Old Collegians (S Pupsure) 8:02.64.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: On a morning of clear victories, David Higgins of Presentation Boat Club, Cork, had to battle to see off Luke Hayes-Nally of Shandon to take the Club Singles title at the National Rowing Centre.

The other wins in the Saturday morning session of the Irish Rowing Championships followed the pattern of one crew gaining an early lead and winning well. Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll in the pair; NUIG in the women’s novice eight; Enniskillen in the men’s junior coxed four and Cork Boat Club’s Lisa Dilleen and Chloe Mehigan in the women’s intermediate double all came home well clear of the field.

Hannah Scott made her move so early that she had three-quarters of the junior single sculls final as clear leader. Margaret Cremen held off Aoife Casey for second.

The men’s intermediate eight final was a UCD affair – their A crew beat their B crew in a tight finish.

Irish Rowing Championships, Day Two (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: UCD 5:50.02.

Four – Junior, coxed: Enniskillen 6:22.94.

Pair – Senior: Skibbereen 6:59.69.

Sculling, Single – Club: Cork (D Higgins) 7:26.59.

Women

Eight – Novice: NUIG 6:38.95.

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: Cork 7:09.95.

Single – Junior: Bann (H Scott) 7:41.22.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Skibbereen added four titles to their already weighty tally on the first day of the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre today. Paul O’Donovan won the senior single sculls and teamed up with Mark O’Donovan, Shane O’Driscoll and his brother Gary in the senior four – both were done in new record times for the course. Paul and Gary also won the senior doubles. The Skibbereen women’s four also won well, in a new best time for the course.

NUIG also took four titles: the men’s intermediate coxed four and club eight and the women’s club coxed four and novice coxed quadruple.

Cork Boat Club proved best in the women’s intermediate eight and also won perhaps the best race of the day: Barry O’Flynn was severely tested by Jack Dorney in the junior single sculls but fought back after being passed and won by a length.

The Old Collegians victory in the women’s senior double was straightforward: Sanita Puspure and Claire Lambe were by far the best crew.

This was the last final of the day, while UCC had won the first, taking the men’s novice coxed quadruple.

Neptune and St Joseph’s tried to rein them in, but the men’s junior eights final was a surprsingly straightforward affair for winners Enniskillen, who also won the women’s junior four. Lee’s Margaret Cremen and Aoife Lynch were also in control in the women’s junior double, as were Hannah Scott and Katie Shirlow in the intermediate pair.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day One (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Club: NUIG 5:53.60. Junior: Enniskillen 5:47.96.

Four – Senior: Skibbereen 5:55.33. Inter, coxed: NUIG 6:13.38.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: UCC 6:39.37.

Double – Senior: Skibbereen 7:06.89.

Single – Senior: Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 6:48.19. Junior: Cork (B O’Flynn) 7:04.06.

Women

Eight – Intermediate: Cork 6:22.06.

Four – Senior: Skibbereen 6:40.58. Club, coxed: NUIG 7:10.92. Junior: Enniskillen 6:57.94.

Pair – Inter: Bann 7:19.32.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: NUIG 7:36.02. Double – Senior: Old Collegians 6:59.997. Junior: Lee 7:09.86.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: NUIG carried off the men’s and women’s senior eights at the Lough Rynn Regatta in Leitrim today. Enniskillen, the former Portora, won the men’s and women’s junior 18 titles. While the morning session had run off on time and with little disruption, the weather changed for the worse in the afternoon, with squalls and bouts of heavy rain. The programme ran late and junior 15 and junior 16 events were cancelled.

A composite crew from UCC and Shandon won the men’s senior double, while the Three Castles duo of Rory Quinn and Oisin Clune of Three Castles won the junior double.

Lough Rynn Regatta, Leitrim (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 NUIG, 2 UCD. Intermediate: 1 UCD, 2 Commercial, 3 NUIG A. Jun 18: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Neptune, 3 Commercial. Club/Jun 16: NUIG. Masters: Athlone (f).

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG, 2 Enniskillen, Cork. Inter, coxed: 1 NUIG A, 2 Commercial, 3 Skibbereen. Club, coxed: 1 NUIG A, 2 NUIG B, 3 Enniskillen. Junior, coxed: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Methodist, 3 Commercial. Masters, coxed: Neptune A (e).

Pair – Inter: 1 Commercial A, 2 St Michael’s, 3 Belfast BC. Jun 18: 1 Commercial B, 2 Commercial A, 3 Commercial C.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club, coxed: 1 Carlow, 2 Enniskillen, 3 Col Iognaid. Jun 16, coxed: 1 Castleconnell. Sculling, Masters: City of Derry.

Double – Sen: 1 Shandon/UCC, 2 Castleconnell, 3 Shandon. Jun 18: 1 Three Castles A, 2 Castleconnell B. Club: 1 Portadown, 2 Clonmel, 3 St Joseph’s. Jun 16: Three Castles.

Single – Sen: 1 Skibbereen (K Mannix), 2 Skibbereen (J Lupton) 3 UCC (R Byrne). Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen (Mannix), 2 Carlow (Murphy), 3 Shandon (O’Sullivan). Masters b and c: Galway (Walkowiak); c: Clonmel (McGrath); d: Carlow (O’Brien): e: Galway (D Crowley); g and h: Belfast BC (Lockwood).

Women

Eight – Sen: 1 NUIG, 2 Commercial. Inter: 1 NUIG, 2 NUIG B. Nov: 1 Galway, 2 Enniskillen. Club: 1 NUIG A, 2 NUIG B. Jun 18: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Bann, 3 Col Iognaid. Jun 16: St Michael’s. Masters: Belfast BC (e). Jun 15: Enniskillen A.

Four – Sen: 1 Cork, 2 Commercial, 3 NUIG. Jun 18A:1 Enniskillen, 2 Commercial, 3 Col Iognaid. Inter, Club, Jun 16, coxed: NUIG (inter).

Pair – Senior/Inter: 1 Bann (inter), 2 Cork, 3 Belfast.

Sculling, Quadruple – Nov, coxed: 1 Neptune, 2 Galway, 3 King’s Hospital. Club, coxed: 1 Methodist, 2 King’s Hos, 3 Commercial. Jun 18: 1 Clonmel, 2 Belfast BC, Portadown, Bann (sen). 3 Comercial. Masters, coxed: Belfast BC. Jun 16: Castleconnell.

Double – Sen: 1 Neptune, 2 Carlow/Kenmare, 3 Garda/NUIG. Club: 1 Bann, 2 St Michael’s, 3 Carlow. Jun: 1 Castleconnell, 2 Commercial, 3 Portadown. Masters: Tribesmen A (d).

Single – Sen: 1 Cork (L Dilleen), 2 Skibbereen (L Heaphy), 3 Queen’s (O Blundell). Inter: 1 Bann (A O’Donovan), 2 Neptune (C Feerick), 3 Skibberee (L Heaphy). Jun 18: 1 Bann (H Scott), 2 Carlow (C Nolan), 3 Col Iognaid (Nic Dhonncha). Masters: City of Derry (M Nic Bhloscaidh; a).

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The men’s quadruple gave four top internationals the chance to show their speed at Skibbereen Regatta. Shane O’Driscoll, Paul O’Donovan, Gary O’Donovan and Mark O’Donovan won in a very good time of six minutes 29.9 seconds. NUIG’s two women’s coxed fours were also impressive – the B crew won well from the A crew in the Division One A Final. Two junior 16 competitors from Castleconnell, Norma Silke and Lauren O’Brien, zoomed away from the rest to win the Division Two double sculls, while Lee’s senior crew took the honours in the women’s quadruple. Enniskillen’s junior 18 crew won the Division One coxed four.  

Skibbereen Grand League Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Day One (Selected Results; with Per Centage of Projected World Best Time)

Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Queen’s (nov) 7:04.6. 3 Univ of Limerick (club two) 7:25.3, 6 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:40.6.

Four, coxed – Div One – A Final: 1 Enniskillen (jun 18A) 7:09.5 (82.18), 2 UCD (inter) 7:11.7 (81.78), 3 NUIG (sen) 7:12.9 (81.54). B Final: 2 NUIG (club one) 7:29.8 (78.48).

Pair – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (sen) 7:43.6 (80.46), 2 Commercial (sen) 7:50.8, 3 Enniskillen (jun 18A) 7:56.4; 4 Cork A (inter) 8:04.8 (76.95). C Final: 3 St Michael’s (club one) 8:10.1 (76.11).

Sculling,

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen/UCD (sen) 6:29.9 (85.41), 2 Commercial (sen) 6:49.0 (81.42), 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:52.2 (80.79), 4 St Michael’s (club one) 7:11.0 (77.26).

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Castleconnell (jun 16) 8:51.7, 2 Shandon (club two) 9:17.3 (71.24). B Final: 2 Athlunkard (jun 18B) 9:57.4.

Single – A Final: 1 UCD (P O’Donovan; senior) 7:58.3 (81.78 per cent), 2 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan; sen) 8:03.4 (80.88), 3 UCD (A Goff; lightweight) 8:17.1 (78.66). B Final: 2 Skibbereen (K Mannix; intermediate) 8:21.6 (77.95); 5 Three Castles (R Quinn; jun 18A) 8:36.4 (75.71).

Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 Shandon (club two) 7:47.5; 4 NUIG (nov) 8:09.8. 5 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 8:12.8. Four, coxed – Division One – A Final: 1 NUIG B (inter) 8:03.5 (80.87),  NUIG A (inter) 8:12.6 (79.37), 3 Cork (sen) 8:18.4 (78.45); 6 UCC (club one) 8:40.7 (75.9).

Pair – A Final: 1 UCC (sen) 8:39.8 (79.06), 2 Cork (inter) 8:40.5 (78.96), 3 Fermoy (jun 18A) 8:47.1 (77.97). B Final: 3 Belfast BC (club one) 9:14.9 (74.07); 6 Cork A (jun 18A) 9:35.7 (71.39)

Sculling

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 Lee (sen) 7:35.2 (80.18), 2 Fermoy, Carlow, Skibbereen, Kenmare 7:36.6 (79.94), 3 Workmans (jun 18A) 7:48.1 (77.98).

Div Two, coxed – A Final: Cork (jun 18B) 8:34.6, 2 Lee A (club two) 8:47.4, 3 Carlow (jun 16), 4 Garda (club two) 9:00.0. B Final: 2 UCD A (nov) 9:21.4.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Castleconnell (jun 16) 8:51.7, 2 Shandon (club two) 9:17.3. B Final: 2 Athlunkard (jun 18B) 9:57.4.

Single – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (S Puspure; sen) 8:33.5 (82.97), 2 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 8:45.0 (81.14), 3 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 9:06.8 (77.91). B Final: 3 Col Iognaid (C Nic Dhonncha; jun 18A) 9:38.1 (73.69), 4 Lee Valley (E O’Mahony; club one) 9:45.6 (72.75).

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Lagan Head of the River in Belfast on Saturday drew a strong representation of clubs from Dublin and Northern Ireland. The Queen’s University novice eight was fastest in the first head, with Trinity intermediates next fastest. Single sculler Hannah Scott of Bann set an excellent time.

 The event had good rowing conditions. It had to contend with competition with the refixed St Michael’s Head at O’Brien’s Bridge.

Lagan Head of the River, Belfast, Saturday (selected results)

Race One

Men

Eight – Novice: Queen’s 10:58.3.

Four – Inter: Trinity (coxed) 11:05.8. Club One, coxed: Methody 11:22.0. Nov, coxed: Queen’s 11:14.0. Jun 18A: Enniskillen 10:44.5. Masters, coxed: Belfast BC/Belfast RC 12:18.0.

Pair – Sen: Queen’s 11:36.5. Jun 18A: Commercial 13:20.2.

Sculling,

 Quadruple – Club One, coxed: CGS 11:24.3. Nov: Queen’s A 12:46.2.  Jun 18A:  Methody B 10:57.9. Jun 16, coxed: Bann 11:21.0.

Double – Sen: Queen’s 11:55.4. Club One: Enniskillen 12:13.3. Jun 18A: Enniskillen 12:31.5. Jun 16: Enniskillen 12:20.5. Masters: Portadown E111 13:09.3.

Single – Senior: Queen’s (C Beck) 11:33.8. Inter: Lagan (W Gilbert) 12:44.6. Club One: Portadown (A Lavins) 12:58.2. Jun 18A: Bann (A Christie) 12:10.8. Masters: Molesey C (R Shirley) 12:37.0.

Women

Eight - Novice: Queen’s A 12:25.7. Jun 15: Enniskillen C 12:21.6.

Four – Club One, coxed: Queen’s 13:17.7. Masters, coxed: Belfast RC 15:42.8.

Pair – Sen: Queen’s C 13:20.2.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Club One, coxed: Portadown 13:49.4. Nov, coxed: Queen’s 13:49.0. Jun 18A: Belfast RC 13:15.4. Jun 16: Bann 12:48.1. Masters: Lagan/Belfast BC 13:47.5.

 Double – Sen: Fermoy/Queen’s 12:23.4. Club One: Queen’s 13:40.8. Jun 18A: Enniskillen B 12:45.2.

Single – Inter: Bann (K Shirlow) 13:46.1. Club One: Methody (R McBrinn) 13:34.1. Jun 18A: Bann (H Scott) 12:40.4.

Race Two

Men

Eight – Senior: Queen’s 14:15.9. Inter: Enniskillen 14:22.3. Club One: Neptune 15:50.3. Jun 18A: Commercial 14:55.2. Masters: Commercial, OCBC, Belfast BC, Neptune 15:29.9.

Four – Sen: Queen’s 16:06.1. Sen, coxed: Belfast RC 16:34.6.

Sculling

Quadruple – Sen: Lagan 15:35.4.

Women

Eight – Inter: Queen’s 17:02.6. Club One: Queen’s B 19.22.8. Jun 18A: Enniskillen 17:02.0. Jun 16: Enniskillen A 18.24.3.

Four – Sen: Belfast BC, Methody 18:25.0. Sen, coxed: Belfast RC 19.50.6.

Sculling

Quadruple – Sen: Bann, Fermoy, Methody, Queen’s 17:17.8.  

Published in Rowing

#InlandWaters - Waterways Ireland will be throwing open the WI Archive to the public on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September to celebrate European Heritage Open Days 2016.

Waterways Ireland HQ in Enniskillen will be open between 12pm and 5pm both days next weekend for free guided tours of the archives and building.

All are welcome to pop in for a visit and discover some of the interesting engineering maps, drawings and images of the waterways from the past 150 years.

To find out more email [email protected] or visit the Discover Northern Ireland website to download a brochure on all the special heritage events next weekend.

Published in Inland Waterways

#Rowing: Trinity’s senior A eight were clear winners of the Erne Head of the River today. The Dublin University crew had 19 seconds to spare over the Commercial senior eight. Portora’s junior 18 eight placed sixth, while the fastest women’s crew were the Trinity senior eight, which finished 16th.

 

Position Crew Number Club Class Time
1
1
DUBC A
MS 8+
19:23
2
4
Commercial RC
MS 8+
19:42
3
2
NUIG A
MS 8+
19:53
4
5
DUBC B
MS 8+
19:56
5
3
UCDBC
MS 8+
20:00
6
8
Portora BC
MJ18 8+
20:15
7
6
NUIG B
MS 8+
20:21
8
7
QUBBC
MI 8+
20:23
9
13
Portora BC
MS 4x-
20:58
10
11
Commercial
MJ18 8+
21:19
11
42
DUBC A
MN 8+
21:23
12
43
QUBBC A
MN 8+
21:38
13
10
Methodist College
MJ18 8+
21:40
14
9
Neptune RC
MJ18 8+
21:45
15
14
Belfast / Lagan Scullers
MS 4x-
22:00
16
23
DULBC
WS 8+
22:22
17
16
RBAI
MU23 4x-
22:26
18
29
Galway RC (Vet D)
MM 8+
22:48
19
44
UCDBC A
MN 8+
23:00
20
67
Commercial RC A
MJ16 4x+
23:06
21
58
Portora BC
MJ16 8+
23:11
22
12
RBAI
MJ18 8+
23:15
23
39
Commercial RC A
WI 8+
23:18
24
24
Portora BC
WJ18 8+
23:25
25
30
Belfast RC A (Vet D)
MM 8+
23:26
26
20
Neptune
MI 4+
23:27
27
17
DUBC
MS 4+
23:29
28
45
Neptune RC
MN 8+
23:31
29
34
Belfast BC (Vet F)
MM 8+
23:36
30
27
Methodist College
WJ18 8+
23:41
31
32
OCBC / Athlone (Vet E)
MM 8+
23:47
32
49
DUBC C
MN 8+
23:52
33
46
DUBC B
MN 8+
23:53
34
48
UCDBC B
MN 8+
23:58
35
51
Belfast BC / Bann/ QUBLBC
WS 4x-
24:15
35
=
28
Neptune RC (Vet D)
MM 8+
24:15
37
37
DULBC A
WI 8+
24:18
38
26
Galway RC
WJ18 8+
24:19
38
=
38
NUIG
WI 8+
24:19
40
59
Methodist College
MJ16 8+
24:21
40
=
56
QUBLBC
WS 4-
24:21
42
41
Commercial RC B
WI 8+
24:31
43
33
Walton Rowing Club (Vet E)
MM 8+
24:34
44
36
LVBC (Vet G)
MM 8+
24:46
45
69
Commercial RC B
MJ16 4x+
24:51
46
54
Commercial RC
WJ18 4x-
25:04
47
64
Belfast BC A (Vet D)
WM 8+
25:06
48
31
Belfast RC B (Vet E)
MM 8+
25:38
49
35
Moseley Boat Club (Vet G)
MM 8+
25:46
50
47
QUBBC B
MN 8+
25:51
51
25
Commercial RC
WJ18 8+
25:53
52
53
Belfast RC
WJ18 4x-
26:04
53
40
DULBC B
WI 8+
26:07
54
22
Methodist College
MJ18 4+
26:31
55
68
Portadown
MJ16 4x+
26:33
56
72
Portora BC B
WJ16 8+
27:21
57
63
Belfast RC (Vet C)
WM 8+
27:38
58
66
Portadown (Vet D)
M Mixed 8+
28:21
59
55
Portadown
WJ18 4x-
28:37
60
62
Belfast BC B (Vet C)
WM 8+
29:11
61
61
Portora BC A
WJ16 8+
29:17
62
65
QUBLBC
WN 8+
29:39
63
=
15
Lagan Scullers
MS 4x-
Did Not Row
63
=
18
UCDBC
MI 4+
Did Not Row
63
=
19
QUBBC
MI 4+
Did Not Row
63
=
21
RBAI
MJ18 4x-
Did Not Row
63
=
50
DULBC
WS 4x-
Did Not Row
63
=
52
Portadown
WS 4x-
Did Not Row
63
=
57
QUBLBC
WI 4+
Did Not Row
63
=
60
Blackrock College
MJ16 8+
Did Not Row
63
=
70
Blackrock College
MJ16 4x+
Did Not Row
63
=
71
Galway RC
WJ164x+
Did Not Row
Published in Rowing

#Rowers of the Month: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for November are Barney Rix of Portora and Ronan Byrne of Shandon. The two young men set new Irish records in indoor rowing. Byrne set a new junior record of six minutes 16.9 seconds at the Provinces Indoor Championships in Limerick. Rix, who had won the junior section at the Irish Indoor Championships early in the year, competed just two days after the Limerick test in Enniskillen – and lowered the record by .1 of a second to 6:16.8.

 Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing
Page 8 of 11

Ferry & Car Ferry News The ferry industry on the Irish Sea, is just like any other sector of the shipping industry, in that it is made up of a myriad of ship operators, owners, managers, charterers all contributing to providing a network of routes carried out by a variety of ships designed for different albeit similar purposes.

All this ferry activity involves conventional ferry tonnage, 'ro-pax', where the vessel's primary design is to carry more freight capacity rather than passengers. This is in some cases though, is in complete variance to the fast ferry craft where they carry many more passengers and charging a premium.

In reporting the ferry scene, we examine the constantly changing trends of this sector, as rival ferry operators are competing in an intensive environment, battling out for market share following the fallout of the economic crisis. All this has consequences some immediately felt, while at times, the effects can be drawn out over time, leading to the expense of others, through reduced competition or takeover or even face complete removal from the marketplace, as witnessed in recent years.

Arising from these challenging times, there are of course winners and losers, as exemplified in the trend to run high-speed ferry craft only during the peak-season summer months and on shorter distance routes. In addition, where fastcraft had once dominated the ferry scene, during the heady days from the mid-90's onwards, they have been replaced by recent newcomers in the form of the 'fast ferry' and with increased levels of luxury, yet seeming to form as a cost-effective alternative.

Irish Sea Ferry Routes

Irrespective of the type of vessel deployed on Irish Sea routes (between 2-9 hours), it is the ferry companies that keep the wheels of industry moving as freight vehicles literally (roll-on and roll-off) ships coupled with motoring tourists and the humble 'foot' passenger transported 363 days a year.

As such the exclusive freight-only operators provide important trading routes between Ireland and the UK, where the freight haulage customer is 'king' to generating year-round revenue to the ferry operator. However, custom built tonnage entering service in recent years has exceeded the level of capacity of the Irish Sea in certain quarters of the freight market.

A prime example of the necessity for trade in which we consumers often expect daily, though arguably question how it reached our shores, is the delivery of just in time perishable products to fill our supermarket shelves.

A visual manifestation of this is the arrival every morning and evening into our main ports, where a combination of ferries, ro-pax vessels and fast-craft all descend at the same time. In essence this a marine version to our road-based rush hour traffic going in and out along the commuter belts.

Across the Celtic Sea, the ferry scene coverage is also about those overnight direct ferry routes from Ireland connecting the north-western French ports in Brittany and Normandy.

Due to the seasonality of these routes to Europe, the ferry scene may be in the majority running between February to November, however by no means does this lessen operator competition.

Noting there have been plans over the years to run a direct Irish –Iberian ferry service, which would open up existing and develop new freight markets. Should a direct service open, it would bring new opportunities also for holidaymakers, where Spain is the most visited country in the EU visited by Irish holidaymakers ... heading for the sun!