#ExporterAwards – The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) annual Export Industry Awards gala dinner evening which attracted 500 guests was held recently in the National Convention Centre Dublin.

Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Alex White, provided a keynote address to Ambassadors and Dignitaries from 24 Embassies in Ireland, while Ivan Yates presided as master of ceremonies.

Aerogen, a medical device and drug delivery company based in Dangan, Co. Galway, won the coveted Exporter of the Year 2014 award presented by hosts, IEA in association with sponsor HSBC. Aerogen also took home the Life Sciences Exporter of the Year Award.

The awards now in their 14th year included the category Medium Size Exporter of the Year which went to Athlone Extrusions with the category sponsored by Rosslare Europort.

The Awards recognise the achievements of companies working in the export industry. In total there are 11 companies which won individual category awards across a range of sectors.

To find out the names of the other award winners and more click HERE.

 

#NEWS UPDATE - BreakingNews.ie reports that a man from Ennis has died after getting into difficulty while swimming off the Co Clare coast yesterday evening.

According to RTÉ News, the 51-year-old man was swimming at Whitestrand off Spanish Point around 5.30pm when he was spotted in distress and retrieved from the water by a lifeguard.

The man was given CPR until paramedics arrived and he was subsequently airlifted to Galway University Hospital by Irish Coast Guard helicopter.

He was later pronounced deceased, with the cause of death yet to be determined.

#IRISH SAILING UPDATE – Ireland's out of the Commodore's Cup, Team Toy Yot are sailors of the month, watch out today for big tides, there's a full moon, diamond sailing on Loch Fyne, we have the pics, a Bangor couple made the Thames, Olympic torch visits the Howth 17s, an offshore race ends with lifeboat assistance in Dun Laoghaire, ISORA Race four results here,  Ballycotton rescues a vessel taking on water and a Fireballer heads offshore, preparations continue for VOR in Galway, are you bringing your boat? Watch out for whales! Check out this near miss. Cork week's own 1720s are going to be centre stage in July. And isn't it great President Higgins is showing a maritime interest?

Calling all Sailing Clubs and classes! Do you have the resources to keep your sailing club website up to date? Are you fed up finding your website looking out of date?

Would a constant stream of Irish sailing and boating news give your site the lift it needs?

Afloat.ie, Ireland's leading source of boating and sailing news, offers a news feed to bona fide clubs and classes wishing to keep web sites fresh and up to to date.

Webmasters can avail of the simple RSS feed and all we ask in return is for you to observe our rules and give Afloat.ie a link on your club homepage.

It couldn't be easier, click for the Afloat. ie RSS feed.

Afloat has enabled competitors in this year's Round Ireland to post their own podcasts on Afloat.ie, and the first two are already in.

Noel Davidson has posted a welcome post on behalf of Spirit of Rosslare Europort, and the Daft.com entry have done the same, heading out for a photo shoot en route to Wicklow.

If you want to do the same, simply download the free audioboo podcast app to your iPhone from the app store, and link it to the Afloat Round Ireland account. 

The account name is AfloatRoundIreland and the password is hellosailor.

Keep your podcasts to 45 seconds or so, and in the following format:

Hello, [sailor's name] here from the boat [boat name].

We're currently located [location details] and the conditions are [weather report]

Then give us a brief status report. A good way to keep it in the desired length is to restrict news to what went on during the last watch, or just tell us your most interesting news snippet.

Sign off, and hit 'publish' on your iPhone.

We'll do the rest, and your family will be able to see your podcasts appear on Afloat.ie almost immediately.

 

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Team Daft Heading to Wicklow:

Spirit of Rosslare Europort Says Hello:

More on the Round Ireland Yacht Race:

Round Ireland Yacht Race 2010 Review

Round Ireland Yacht Race, Ireland's top offshore fixture

A Round up of 80 stories on the 2010 Round Ireland Yacht Race