Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

annalise page topper

Displaying items by tag: Great South Wall

Dublin’s Great South Wall has taken on the appearance of the Cork Harbour shoreline thanks to a new biodiversity project.

According to RTÉ News, a series of large concrete blocks imprinted with a mould of the Ringaskiddy coastline have been placed at the foot of the wall — providing a rougher topography that is hoped will be a safe haven for marine micro-organisms to thrive.

Researchers at UCD who developed the scheme chose the nooks and crannies on the water’s edge at Ringaskiddy above more than 60 other shorelines, both naturally rocky and human-made, as the model for their project in collaboration with the Dublin Port Company.

And if the Dublin Bay experiment is successful, then Ringaskiddy’s topography could be replicated on sea walls, piers and other structures around the country.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

Published in Dublin Bay

Dublin Port Company has created a splash of colour for the Dublin Pride Festival this week with a new mural installation at the Great South Wall, which attracts over 500 walkers daily.

The Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride Festival 2022 runs until next Tuesday 28 June. However, the whole of June is considered Pride Month with a host of organisations and venues running Pride events across the city and county.

The Dublin Pride Parade and March will take place this Saturday 25 June with over 13,000 people registered to take part and the route runs from O’Connell Street to Merrion Square.

The iconic diving bell on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay will be lit up in rotating Pride colours each evening for the duration of the festival | Credit: Conor McCabe PhotographyThe iconic diving bell on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay will be lit up in rotating Pride colours each evening for the duration of the festival | Credit: Conor McCabe Photography

As part of Dublin Pride 2022, Dublin Port Company has created a new ‘Pride at the Port‘ mural at the Great South Wall which incorporates the pride colours as a symbol of solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community.

Pride flags will fly high throughout Dublin Port and the iconic diving bell on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay will be lit up in the rolling colours of the rainbow each evening at dusk for the duration of the festival.

The Great South Wall walk to Poolbeg Lighthouse is a very popular tourist attraction taking in great views of Dublin Bay, with over 180,000 visitors passing the ‘Half Moon’ swimming club over the 12 month period March 2021 to March 2022, the port states.

Published in Dublin Port

Dublin Port Company has announced a temporary closure of pedestrian access to the Great South Wall Due to forecasted high winds and tides in Dublin Bay from tonight, Monday 22 February.

Access will be closed from tonight at 10pm until Wednesday morning, 24 February, at 4am. There is no requirement to close Bull Island Bridge at this time.

The port company says the Great South Wall closure is due to tide height and dangerous winds on the exposed wall surface.

Delays to some shipping activity and pilotage services are also likely, including possible delays at the port’s LOLO container terminals.

Dublin Port Company says it will continue to monitor the situation and provide relevant updates via social media channels and on dublinport.ie

Published in Dublin Port
Tagged under

#PortWalks - Download, walk & listen with the Dublin Port Walks this May Bank Holiday Monday where there is an opportunity to engage with your surroundings on a walk and through a free site specific public artwork. Port Walks is an online audio project connecting Dublin Port Seafarers with Dublin Port Walkers.

On 1st May (10.30-11.30 am) at the Sluice House on the Great South Wall, artist Sheelagh Broderick is holding a public meet up with walkers for a "work in progress" review.

Registered walkers will be invited to download the first of several project podcasts and to listen to it while taking a walk on the Great South Wall. The first podcast addresses the radical reconfiguration of contemporary shipping and seafaring in the last 50 years. Sheelagh will be on hand to answer questions before and afterwards.

The podcast is available for download on portwalks.ie/podcasts as well as other platform providers (iTunes /SoundCloud). Walkers should download content prior to arrival. In the event that anyone has a difficulty with downloads, please come a little earlier than the advertised time for assistance.

Please Register (noting limited numbers) for an available time slot by clicking this link.

Published in Dublin Port

#DublinBay - Dublin Bay was we know it today looked very different three centuries ago, as TheJournal.ie highlights with a selection of enlightening historical maps.

As reported yesterday on Afloat.ie, this week marks the 300th anniversary of the decision to build the Great South Wall in an effort to solve the centuries-old problem of silting in the main channels to Dublin Port.

At that time, the area north of Townsend Street that today is the south Docklands did not exist, as the Liffey flowed right up to what was then called Lazar's Hill or Lazy Hill – while Ringsend was a sandpit that extended into the bay at the river's mouth.

The wall changed all that, as the land between was reclaimed and the Liffey's course straightened and strengthened over the 80 years of its construction.

Later change came to the Northside, too, with the construction of the Bull Wall – surveyed by Captain Bligh of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' infamy – as Marino, Fairview and the North Strand, so named for their then coastal locations, lost their sea views to land reclamation, and Bull Island was formed from the sand and silt that once claimed any number of ships on approach to the city.

The maps have been shared by the Dublin Port Company to coincide with the Dublin Bay Conference that takes place today (Wednesday 29 April) with a programme of lectures lined up to celebrate the construction of what was then the longest sea wall in the world.

Published in Dublin Bay

#DublinPort - Three hundred years ago this week, the decision was made by the Dublin City Assembly to build an embankment from Ringsend into Dublin Bay, in an effort to solve the centuries-old problem of silting in the main channels into Dublin Port.

As RTÉ reports, Philip Bromwell has commemorated this historic occasion with a special multimedia report on the engineering feat, which today extends some 4km to the Poolbeg Lighthouse.

When completed 80 years after plans were first announced, the Great South Wall was the longest sea wall in the world.

And it's still a vital part of the city's infrastructure, helping – along with its sister Bull Wall on the north side of the bay – to keep the port's waters clear of silt and sand build-up for shipping traffic.

But it's also a popular recreation spot for walkers, cyclists, anglers and anyone looking to take in the spectacular vistas of the bay in the shadow of the iconic Poolbeg chimneys.

Get the whole story on the Great South Wall's 300th anniversary HERE.

Published in Dublin Port

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020