If you’ve been wondering just when the current spell of unsettled weather might give way to better conditions, not to mention what has been causing it all in the first place, then the lovely natural harbour and pretty village of Glandore in West Cork is the place to be this weekend writes W M Nixon
Of course, the well-established biennial Glandore Summer School – it alternates with the Glandore Classic & Traditional Boat Regatta and was founded in 1992 – has much more to offer than an insightful presentation on our weather from a maritime perspective. But as the expert in question is Met Eireann’s Vincent O’Shea, who last month was the weather advisor at the Skippers’ Briefing before the Volvo Round Ireland race at Wicklow, his words of wisdom will carry a special resonance.
As ever, the two days of Summer School sessions on Saturday July 16th and Sunday July 17th - organised by Cormac O’Carroll and his team from Glandore Harbour YC in the unique but effective setting of the harbourside Kilfaughnabeg Church in Glandore - will cover a very wide range of topics. But it’s down to serious business immediately at 10.30am on Saturday, when the first speaker is Michael Creed TD, the Minister for the Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Other speakers will cover a very wide range of topics on issues affecting and assisting maritime communities, particularly as experienced in the southwest. And naturally the traditional and newer boats of the region will be given close attention, with speakers including Gary MacMahon of the Ilen Project at Oldcourt with its boat-building school in Limerick, and expert boat-builders Tiernan Roe and Rui Ferreira, both of whom have their specialised workshops in the Ballydehob neighbourhood, as well as the award-winning Bill Trafford from Mitchelstown.
As for the vital topic of providing genuine sea experience for young people, there’ll be insight into that both from Oliver Hart of the schooner Spirit of Oysterhaven, and Tony McLaughlin of the Brian Boru from Waterford.
Many other areas of interest will be covered in a wide-ranging agenda for which the attendance fee is €20.
