Hello there and welcome aboard this week’s edition of Seascapes the maritime programme, this week we hear about the future plans of Meitheal Mara; we have music from Gordon Lightfoot and the epic tale of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and a talk in the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in the coming week titled “A Voyage for Madmen – the Golden Globe Race- 1968 to 2018 “ with Gregor McGuckin who has entered next years edition of the race, writer and broadcaster Norman Freeman takes us on a visit to Bray Head in County Wicklow , we have the winner in our Seascapes competition for that book on the “ Rivers Dodder and Poddle”....first this week on your maritime programme we hear about the future strategic plans for Meitheal Mara based in the heart of Cork city , the plan was launched in the splendid boardroom of The Port of Cork by Minister Simon Coveney TD ,Meitheal Mara was founded in 1993, the event was attended by over one hundred partners , supporters and sponsors of the organisation, in a moment we’ll hear from John Mullins CEO of The Port of Cork and from Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett....Meitheal Mara is a maritime heritage community for young people and adults, we talked first to one of the founders , seafarer boatman and boat builder and maritime advocate Padraig O Duineen .....

Well from Padraig O Duineen of Meitheal Mara to John Mullins , CEO of the Port of Cork .....

The voice of John Mullins, Chairman of the Port of Cork Company, next to the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces – Vice Admiral Mark Mellett

Vice Admiral Mark Mellett at that launch of Meitheal Mara’s Strategic Plan for the coming years which was launched last Friday afternoon , you can read more about the organisation here.

Next here on Seascapes to the East coast and writer and broadcaster Norman Freeman on Bray Head.....

Writer and broadcaster Norman Freeman whose latest book “The Lure of Far Away Places “ is published by The Liffey Press and in all discerning bookstores.

We recommend you see Eugeen Van Mieghem – An exhibition of his paintings in ” Port Life “ at The Hugh Lane Gallery described as a fascinating visual account of the pulsating life of a working port at the beginning of the 20th century.

Van Mieghem’s work represents a social history, exploring themes of migration, globalisation, port society, the working community, and, the life of the artist .

Organised with the support of Dublin Port Company, the exhibition is part of Port Perspectives, Dublin Port’s arts commissioning programme to help re-establish links between the Port and the City.
The exhibition can be viewed Tuesday to Thursday 9:45 am – 6 pm, Friday 9:45 am – 5 pm, Saturday 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 11 am – 5 pm. Admission is free of charge (voluntary contributions to the Gallery are appreciated). 

Next to an epic song on a maritime disaster from the pen of songwriter supreme Gordon Lightfoot and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot.....

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has launched its new Seafarers web resource for all seafarers, fishers, recreational craft users and others looking to obtain certification or qualification in the sector.

The new website they state is “ intended as a national and international resource for information relating to seafarers, which includes those involved in commercial shipping, the fishing industry and the recreational craft sector.”

The site provides full details of the career structures available and how to obtain the necessary qualifications for work in the industry, as well as for recreational craft users.

The website hosts all appropriate application forms and also provides for the verification of qualifications, listing details of approved training course providers in Ireland.

The Department of Transport , Tourism and Sport says the Seafarers website forms part of a wider updating of seafarer education and training in Ireland, and is supported by a new Seafarers Information System, which provides for the registration of all seafarers and for life-long training and career development.

The department encourages seafarers who already hold Certificates of Competency or radio certificates issued in Ireland to register now on the new information system.

"A Voyage For Madmen"- The Golden Globe Race 1968-2018. An illustrated lecture by Gregor McGuckin, who has entered for the 2018 race, will take place on Thursday 2nd February at 20:00hrs at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend,. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the RNLI.

World Wetlands Day is coming up on February 2nd , and this year’s theme is ‘Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction’.

Wetlands play a vital role in mitigating the impact of extreme weather events.......that’s next Thursday “World Wetlands Day.....”

Finally to our Seascapes competition and the copy of “The Rivers Dodder and Poddle - Mills , Storms and Droughts and the Public Water Supply” by Don McEntee and Michael Corcoran and published by Dublin City Council and Four Courts Press - the first correct answer out of the Seascapes fedora was from Tessie McGettigan , Lifford , Co Donegal , Congratulations that book is on its way to you......many thanks for all your entries....

“ On the sound desk on Seascapes this week Bryan Fitzpatrick , next week here on your maritime programme we bring you a full report from the Volvo –Irish Sailing Association Annual Awards at the Royal Dublin Society Concert Hall in Ballsbridge , where they will present the ISA Training Centre of the Year ; Youth Sailor of the Year ; Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year and the ISA President's Awards; all that and much more .......so until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing.”

This Saturday (28th January), Sail training Ireland will hold their fifth Annual Prize giving and season launch event at the Mansion house in Dublin, courtesy of Lord Mayor of Dublin Brendan Carr. Cllr. Ruairi McGinley will be attending on behalf of the Mayor. Sail Training Ireland has announced “The Voyage”, a Tall Ship initiative being run between the Cities of Dublin, Belfast and Liverpool which includes Sail Training voyages between the three cities and incorporates The Dublin Port River Fest, Belfast Maritime Festival and Liverpool’s International Mersey River Festival. The programme of events is planned to celebrate the historical, cultural and maritime links. Delegates from the three city councils will be present at the event.

Master of ceremonies is the well-known RTÉ Radio 1 Seascapes presenter and Sail Training Ireland Goodwill Ambassador Marcus Connaughton.

Sail Training Ireland funds young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with disabilities to sail on Tall Ship voyages at sea where they have a real experience of life under sail.

Their work has resulted in over twelve hundred young people going to sea since 2011. In 2016 the numbers of funded trainees reached almost 300 going to sea on ships from Ireland and across Europe. We aim to fund a similar number of trainees in 2017. (See Notes for Images of 2017 Ships). These numbers have not been seen since the loss of Ireland’s National Tall Ship Asgard II in 2008. The 2016 trainees included young people from residential care homes, Garda Diversion Projects, Sea Scouts, Youth and Community groups and Schools, former prisoners and asylum seekers and immigrants and young people with visual, hearing and physical impairments from across Ireland and Northern Ireland. The purpose: A change in direction/perspective, attitude and behaviour – self-confidence, motivation and adventure.

Daragh Sheridan, the CEO of Sail Training Ireland will announce a voyage programme for 2017 and a number of very exciting funded programmes that are supported by the development of regional bursary schemes. The bursary schemes in Drogheda, Cork and Waterford are into their 5th and 4th and 2nd years respectively while the Belfast, Dublin, Wexford, Derry, Galway and Limerick are at various stages of development. The Dublin City Council/Dublin Port Company Legacy project continues to build on the legacy of Tall Ships 2012.

Funded voyage schemes in 2017 include:
• EU Commission "Youth Exchange" projects, under the Erasmus + programme, in partnership with Merseyside Adventure Sailing Trust - Liverpool. These take place during June on Tall Ship Pelican of London.
• EU Commission “Youth Exchange” projects, under the Erasmus+ programme, in partnership with Tall Ship Maybe - UK. There are 3 voyages during the Summer months.
• Voyages with Spirit of Oysterhaven, a stunning 70ft Schooner based in Cork catering for a range of projects.
• The Garda Youth Diversion voyages will take place on Spirit of Oysterhaven in 2017.
• Voyages on board the Brian Ború, the newest edition to the Sail Training family! A traditional gaff rigged ketch specifically adapted for voyages of discovery, heritage and wildlife on the Waterford estuary.

#PortStudio - Chief executive of Dublin Port Company Eamonn O’Reilly has told Dublin City Council he “would have an open mind” on the development of a Hollywood-style film studio on the Poolbeg peninsula.

As The Irish Times writes in recent weeks Mr O’Reilly had described the plans to develop an €80 million film studio on port lands as “daft” and “a good old-fashioned attempted land-grab”.

In a letter to the newspaper last month he said port lands on the peninsula would be developed “exclusively for port uses”.

Windmill Lane Studios founder James Morris and film producer Alan Moloney want to develop an €80 million studio complex at the new Poolbeg strategic development zone (SDZ), a 34 hectare site in the city’s east end.

U2 singer Bono has advocated for the project and lobbied former minister for the environment Alan Kelly to support the studio. Actors Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy have also spoken in support of the project.

About half of the land in the new development zone is taken up by the former Irish Glass bottle company and adjoining Fabrizia lands. The council has designated 80 per cent of these lands for apartments, with the remaining 20 per cent of this site earmarked for an office and retail “buffer zone” separating the housing from industrial land banks.

Almost all the remaining lands in the zone are port company-owned. Despite having previously ruled out the studio, Mr O’Reilly on Monday raised hopes that Hollywood could possibly still come to the city’s east end.

To read more the newspaper reports here.

#CruiseFirst - A pair of Fred Olsen Lines sisters marked both the last cruise call to Dublin Port in 2016 and as the first of the New Year, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The conservative yet handsome profile of Boudicca sailed into Dublin at dawn. The 880 passenger cruiseship had sailed from the opposite side of the Irish Sea having cast off mooring ropes from Liverpool’s famous waterfront. The ship had berthed at the cruise terminal located near the landmark buildings known as the ‘Three Graces’.

On boards are cruise-goers taking in the early New Year sights and visiting tourist attractions of Dublin's 'Fair City' before Boudicca sets sail this evening at 18.00hrs. The next port of call been Southampton. Likewise of the Irish capital, the Hampshire port is the UK’s busiest for cruiseships along with trading in general cargo, notably through giant ocean-going containerships.

Within the last fortnight sister, Black Watch had too disembarked tourists to visit Dublin which in 2016 the port welcomed 112 cruiseships.

The veteran vessels of 28,000 gross tonnage each and dating to the 1970’s belong to an increasing rare breed of first generation cruiseships. With the passing of more than four decades they have become by default yet even more pleasing to the aesthestic eye.

In comparison to some of the behemoths of modern day cruiseships and newbuilds that will descend into the Dublin Port of the future using a new cruise €30m terminal granted planning permission.

The facility a first for the port is part of the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project. This is phase one of the Masterplan for the port up to 2040.

Currently the vast majority of cruiseships dock in Alexandra Basin (west and east). It is in the east basin, the larger of the two where Boudicca of 206m in length is berthed alongside Ocean Pier. This is also where larger cruiseships of 300m in length dock while considerably smaller ships can head downriver close to the city quays.

Port access issues such as restrictions on overall cruiseship dimensions will be resolved by an extensive dredging programme within the port but also the approach channels off Poolbeg Lighthouse.

This will enable the largest cruiseships in the world to dock following realignment of quays within Alexandra Basin. Such works will permit  these massive cruiseships up to 340m in length to swing around the increased turning circle inside the basin. 

#FuelTerminal - Applegreen, a forecourt retailer has agreed to pay €15.7m to buy a 50pc stake in a fuel terminal at Dublin Port.

The Joint Fuel Terminal writes The Irish Independent is currently equally owned by Valero Energy (Ireland) and Esso Ireland. It is one of three fuel importing facilities at the port.

Applegreen is acquiring Esso's stake in the terminal.

Esso Ireland was acquired by Topaz in October 2015 for €75m. At the time, Topaz was owned by businessman Denis O'Brien. Shortly after, he sold Topaz to Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard for €450m.

But as part of the deal to acquire the Esso operation, Topaz was told by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to sell the Esso stake in the Joint Fuel Terminal. The stake had been for sale since early in 2016.

Further details of the deal can be read here.

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes, we feature part one of Starboard Home a commission by Dublin Port Company drawing inspiration from the River Liffey and the port which was held in The National Concert Hall this Summer featuring a galaxy of contemporary musicians including Duke Special; James Vincent McMorrow; John Sheehan; Cathy Davey; Colm Mac an Iomaire; Richard Egan and Declan O ‘Rourke, so this week we hear from Gary Sheehan, Head of Programme Planning at the NCH how the whole project came to pass and the subsequent recording, we also talk to Paul Noonan of Bell XI and hear his composition Steel Ballet, Paul was producer of the album; “Kingfisher Blue “ from Paul Cleary, music and conversation with exciting new talent Lisa O’ Neill and “Rock the Machine”, lets hear first this composition by Gemma Hayes and “Caught in the Rapids” 

Gemma Hayes and “Caught in the Rapids” taken from Starboard Home next Gary Sheehan who is Head of Programme Planning at the National Concert Hall , Gary explained how the project developed ......

Well from Gary Sheehan to composer and member of BELL XI and producer of Starboard Home – Paul Noonan , Paul talked to Seascapes about his role in the project backstage at the National Concert Hall and his composition “Steel Ballet “....

Paul Noonan , we’ll hear next from rising new talent Lisa O’ Neill from Ballyhaise in Cavan .....and her song “Rock the Machine “

Our final offering for this week taken from the Starboard Home album celebrating Dublin Port is from Paul Cleary and this remarkable song .....

Paul Cleary and Kingfisher Blue from Starboard Home....

On the sound desk this week Bryan Fitzpatrick ...., every good wish  from all on Seascapes ......Next week here on your maritime programme, we’ll have music and conversation from “Starboard Home” with Richie Egan ; Colm Mac an Iomaire ; John Sheehan ; Duke Special ; and James Vincent McMorrow , that’s Seascapes with Starboard Home – Part 2 next Friday night , until then tight lines and fair sailing.”

#PortEstate -Chief executive of Dublin Port Eamonn O’Reilly has described as “mad”, “daft” and an “attempt at a landgrab” plans for a Hollywood-style film studio on the Poolbeg Peninsula.

As The Irish Times writes the port company will next month review its master plan which will govern the development of port lands up to 2040.

Mr O’Reilly said no provision would be made for the studio project.

Windmill Lane Studios founder James Morris and film producer Alan Moloney want to develop an €80 million studio complex at the new Poolbeg strategic development zone (SDZ), a 34 hectare site in the city’s east end.

U2 singer Bono has advocated for the project and lobbied former minister for the environment Alan Kelly to support the studio.

About half of the land in the development zone is taken up by the former Irish Glass bottle company and adjoining Fabrizia lands.

Dublin City Council has designated 80 per cent of these lands for apartments, with the remaining 20 per cent of this site earmarked for an office and retail “buffer zone” separating the housing from industrial land banks.

Almost all the remaining lands in the zone are port company-owned, and Mr O’Reilly said they were needed in their entirety for future expansion of the port.

For further reading on this development, click here

#TankerDublinBay - Lorna Siggins of the Irish Times writes that seafarers are used to spending Christmas at sea, but one ship’s complement in Irish waters will have a more unusual experience than most.

Some 13 crew on board the 129-metre tanker Iver Ability as previously reported on Afloat, will be neither out of sight nor out of mind in Dublin Bay due to “issues” with unloading the ship’s cargo.

The red- and white-hulled vessel has already spent more than four months on the anchorage, apart from several brief forays into Dublin Port for supplies.

Illuminated at night, it has become a talking point for coastal walkers.

Managers of the Gibraltar-registered ship have confirmed that it was transferred on to the anchorage in August after it “experienced a reaction to its cargo of bitumen during cargo operations in the port”.

It is understood that a seal on its hatch ruptured while on berth in Dublin Port, and posed a potential safety hazard.

The ship’s owners say that the situation has “stabilised”, with “no further pressure release of the cargo occurring”, and that they have been conducting a “full investigation”.

For more click here noting that further in the report, it was mentioned Iver Ability was in Dublin Port this week to take on supplies and also during Storm Barbara to await subsiding winds.

Afloat.ie can confirm as of this morning the tanker has departed from the Deepwater Quay with assistance of tug Beaufort, before heading under way for yet another anchorage and notably to be spent over Christmas. 

#SaveHistoricDocks - A Dublin docklands business group and waterways enthusiasts have called on Minister for Heritage Heather Humphreys to save a key piece of the Grand Canal basin’s Georgian architecture.

As The Irish Times writes The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) and the Docklands Business Forum (see related story) have initiated a petition this week which asks Ms Humphreys to ensure the basin’s lock gates and graving docks for ships are “restored, preserved and reused” for community gain.

The two groups believes Waterways Ireland wants to sell the graving docks site for further high rise development on the Liffey mouth.

The cross-Border agency is primarily responsible for the Grand Canal Basin and for the surrounding area where the three graving docks were constructed for vessel repair, while Nama also has a lease interest.

The graving docks and lock gates are as important to the heritage of the area as Battery Park is to New York, according to Docklands Business Forum’s chief executive Alan Robinson.

For more on this development click here.

Jehan Ashmore of Afloat adds that recently in an 'Aran Islands Snapshot' was featured the former ferry, Naomh Eanna which has been berthed in Grand Canal Dock for more than a quarter century.

The basin itself is considerably older having opened in 1796 for use of ships entering three docks to and from the River Liffey.

Only in recent years due to the threat of scrapping by Waterways Ireland that the historic Irish built ship was saved by campaigners. Among the reasons cited was due to possible sinking of the veteran vessel which led to the ship shifted from Charlotte Quay to a nearby disused graving dock dating to 1850's. 

There have been plans by maritime heritge enthusiasts to restore the 1958 Liffey Dockyard built Naomh Eanna that ran for CIE between Galway City and Aran Islands. The project involved relocating to her former homeport in the mid-west city as a floating museum amongst other functions. The proposed visitor attraction was welcomed by Galway Port with a dedicated berth.  

Grand Canal Basin was last used by commercial shipping until the 1960's. The three graving docks (the largest infilled) were used for repairs of small ships and canal barges.

#HMSillustrious - The Royal Navy’s former and final ‘Invincible’ aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which made a rare call to Dublin in recent years departed UK waters for the last time yesterday bound for a Turkish shipbreakers yard, writes Jehan Ashmore.

HMS Illustrious was launched in 1978 but commissioning of the aircraft carrier notably took place after the Falklands War or 'conflict' with Argentina as it was also known. The carrier became  synonymous given the vital role of the RAF Harrier Jump-Jet aircraft. In more recent years the aircraft-carrier was scaled down to that of only carrying helicopters.

The third of the ‘Invincible’ class carrier sailed from the UK premier naval base of Portsmouth bound for Falklands in the South Atlantic. Likewise a departure from the Hampshire port was repeated for the final time yesterday albeit under tow on a delivery voyage set for the Mediterranean Sea. A Turkish shipbreaker will dismantle the ship for recycling. 

The veteran vessel of 22,000 gross tonnage had over a 32 year career taken part in global conflicts and humanitarian rescue missions. In doing so the ‘Lusty’ as she is referred by crew has clocked up 900,000 thousand miles until retired following decommissioning in 2014.

A pair of ‘Queen Elizabeth’ aircraft carriers are been built in Scotland with other yards in the UK contributing modular sections. Among them Babcock Marine & Technology, the north Devon shipbuilders of the Irish Naval Service OPV90 ‘Beckett’ /Playwright sisters. So far they total three ships with the commissioning naming ceremony of LE William Butler Yeats in Galway held in October.

HMS Illustrious follows the leadship class namesake and HMS Ark Royal which together were sold for scrap overseas. Despite an open competition held over a two year timeframe that sought to save the ship or retain part of the aircraft carrier for heritage purposes in the UK, such attempts to keep the ship in home waters failed.

The Ministry of Defence deemed proposals by some to convert the ship as a museum or hotel as too expensive.