News on Irish Rowing, Angling, Waterskiing, Canoeing, Diving and Sea Swimming
Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue
Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue did not pick up on an offer by Denmark to resolve a three-year row with Ireland over mackerel, which could have been worth almost 10 million euro. The Sunday Independent reports that a letter sent…
Brown trout caught and released at Lough Sheelin
A survey of Lough Sheelin anglers has found that 94 per cent are now releasing more of the trout they catch back into Lough Sheelin than they did when they started fishing. The Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) research involved 132…
David Lawlor with oysters at Dun Laoghaire Marina. Lawlor is starting what may be a 15 to 20-year project with a pilot, cultivating a series of “oyster gardens” in several yacht marinas at Poolbeg, Malahide and Dun Laoghaire in Dublin
Diver, sailor and coffee distributor David Lawlor is not that mad about oysters – he’ll eat them out of politeness – but he is mad about what they can do as keystone species in stabilising marine habitats. That’s why he…
File image of an Atlantic salmon being released into water
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has secured convictions against two men for illegal salmon angling on the River Slaney in Co Carlow. The men were each charged with using an illegal method for salmon fishing and failing to produce a licence…
File image of kayak paddles
Police officers in Coleraine have been praised after their rescue of two kayakers from the River Bann in Northern Ireland earlier this week. Dog walkers noticed the kayakers had gotten into difficulty in the river at around 6.20pm on Tuesday…
Atlantic salmon close up, held by hand
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has opened the first draw for anglers wishing to catch and keep salmon from Cork’s Lower River Lee. ‘Brown tag’ regulations come into force on the river from 1 Thursday 1 February and will remain in…
Paddy Conaghan completes a swim as part of his 'Ducking and Driving Around the Lakes of Ireland for IMNDA' campaign
An 83-year-old Donegal man has set out to swim or dip in lakes across the 32 counties of Ireland to raise funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA). Paddy Conaghan estimates it will take six weeks to complete…
Bere Island in West Cork was without electrical power as a result of a fishing vessel accidentally coming into contact with a submarine cable
ESB Networks has appealed for vigilance at sea in relation to submarine cables after a fishing vessel cut power to West Cork’s Bere Island last week. ESB Networks restored power to some 280 affected islanders at 11 pm on Friday…
Ballycotton RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat, the Austin Lidbury
In a daring rescue operation, a volunteer lifeboat crew from Ballycotton RNLI in County Cork saved the lives of three fishermen who were stranded on an 11m boat that had suffered difficulties and was disabled two and a half miles…
Colm Lynch is the new chief executive of Irish Water Tech Company Aquamonitrix
An Irish technology company specialising in monitoring of drinking water, along with aquaculture and the environment, has appointed Colm Lynch as its new chief executive. Aquamonitrix develops and sells “next generation” analysers for nitrite and nitrates, to prevent contamination of…
James Kenny measured the 8lb salmon hooked in Watt’s Pool at 69cm
The first salmon of the 2024 angling season has been caught in Co Donegal, as Angling Ireland reports. Shortly after 1pm on New Year’s Day (Monday 1 January), James Kenny caught and released an 8lb specimen in Watt’s Pool on…
Lurgan’s Linda Blakely plans to set off from Gran Canaria to St Lucia in the Caribbean on January 7
Lurgan’s Linda Blakely aims to cross the treacherous 3,000-mile Atlantic Ocean in a 12-foot boat aptly named Ulster Warrior, reports the Sunday Life. She will start 2024 attempting to break a world record for a female solo rower, which is…
Uisce Éireann’s Ballymore Eustace water and sludge treatment plant sits next to the River Liffey in Co Kildare
A treatment plant that supplies drinking water to nearly half of Dublin’s population has been linked with significant environmental damage along its stretch of the River Liffey. But due to a quirk in Ireland’s planning rules, the only agency with…
Skerries RNLI shore crew recovering the inshore lifeboat
Skerries RNLI were tasked on Saturday morning (30 December) following a call to Dublin Coast Guard reporting that a kitesurfer was in difficulty off Portrane beach. The Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Louis Simson was launched by s shortly after 11.30am.…
Two fishing rods and reels
Anglers in Killorglin are appealing plans recently green-lit by Kerry County Council for a development of nearly 250 homes outside of Killarney. As the Kerryman reports, the Laune Salmon and Trout Anglers’ Association says it “did not receive the regard…
Of the 81 rivers permitted for Salmon and Sea Trout angling, 42 will be open, with a further 39 open to “catch and release”
Legislation approved by Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan will allow for 81 rivers to be accessible for salmon and sea trout angling next year. Of the 81, 42 will be open, with a further 39 open to “catch and release”…