MacDara Conroy
MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business
#TOURISM - Sailing, kayaking and surfing are just some of the attractions for watersports enthusiasts in Rathmullan, as the Sunday Independent reports. Sophie Linehan visited the Donegal village on the shores of Lough Swilly ahead of last weekend's second annual…
#CANOEING - Top junior surf kayaker Andy McClelland was on hand this week for the official opening of Northern Ireland's East Coast Canoe Trail, as the Carrick Times reports. The new route - running for 70 nautical miles from Strangford…
#LUSITANIA - A new TV documentary on the National Geographic Channel follows what might be the last expedition to the wreck of the Lusitania, in a bid to get to the bottom of the century-old mystery surrounding the ill-fated vessel.…
#SURFING - Bundoran in Co Donegal will next week host the final two events to select the Irish Junior Surf Team to compete at Eurojuniors 2012 in Lacanau, France this September, as the Irish Surfing Association reports. A junior squad…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Local businesses in Galway have committed to Fáilte Ireland's Quality, Value and Service charter for the Volvo Ocean Race festival that kicks off this weekend. According to the Galway Advertiser, shops, eateries and accommodation throughout Galway…
#FLOODING - The clean-up has begun across Cork city and county after heavy flooding over the past two days resulted in millions of euro worth of damage, as The Irish Times reports. Debris blocking a rubbish screen on a new…
Irish Sea Could Have Own Barrier Reef if UK Acts on Marine Wildlife Zones
28th June 2012 Marine Wildlife
#MARINE WILDLIFE - Blackpool could have its own 'Great Barrier Reef' if proposals to set up Marine Conservations Zones in the Irish Sea get the green light, as the Blackpool Gazette reports. Earlier this month the Lancashire Wildlife Trust launched…
#KITESURFING - The Daily Business Post's recent focus on businesses in Wicklow and Wexford turned its focus to Niall Roche's start-up kitesurfing school based on Duncannon beach. Roche runs Hooked Kitesurfing, which was set up a year ago to teach…
#LIFEBOATS - IOM Today reports that the Isle of Man's Peel RNLI lifeboat crew went to the rescue of the pleasure craft Flying Fox, which suffered an engine room fire some 22 miles off the island's west coast. Flying Fox…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Damian Foxall hopes it will be fourth time lucky in his quest to clinch a Volvo Ocean Race victory - but as he tells the official VOR website, he won't be resting on his laurels. Despite…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Miriam Lord's "sniping" on the Volvo Ocean Race and Global Village festivities in Galway was "unfair, unwarranted and misunderstood", according to the chair of the event organisers. In a letter to the editor of The Irish Times,…
#BELFAST LOUGH NEWS - The Carrick Advertiser reports that disabled sailing charity Belfast Lough Sailability has has won a place in the semi-finals of the UK's National Lottery Awards 2012. Voting opened yesterday in the annual scheme, and the group…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - The Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway will be a homecoming of sorts for specialist nautical map designer Bobby Nash, as the Irish Examiner reports. The designer, who works at home in Kinsale, enhances classic charts…
#DEEPWATER OIL - Tullow Oil has struck oil off the Ivory Coast in an encouraging development for the Irish-founded oil exploration company, Bloomberg reports. The UK-based firm says its Paon-1X deepwater exploration well encountered 31 metres of net oil in…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Silicon Republic reports that researchers at NUI Galway have created a free mobile app for visitors to the city during the Volvo Ocean Race festivities starting this weekend. Graduate students at the university's Digital Enterprise Research…
#KAYAKING - Irish-built kayaks were the vessels of choice for the third annual Small Boat Day in Groton, Connecticut, as the Mystic River Press reports. Kayakers of all levels of experience were welcome for the free event on the waters…
#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - A Fine Gael senator last week called on the people of Galway to raise €100,000 for arts and culture events during the Volvo Ocean Race finale, The Irish Times reports. Senator Fidelma Healy-Eames said the funding…
#MARINE NOTICE - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) warns mariners off Gormanston, Co Meath of live surface-to-air firing practices over two days next week. The Defence Forces will be conducting the live…
#MARINE WILDLIFE - Dolphinwatch Carrigaholt, in collaboration with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), is offering a special midsummer night cruise in the Shannon Estuary as a fundraiser for the IWDG. The cruise will depart Castle Pier in Carrigaholt,…
#ISLAND NEWS - The Junior Minister for Tourism was on hand at the official opening of the Go Explore Hostel and Praeger Education Centre on Clare Island last weekend, as the Mayo News reports. “This new venture will spearhead Clare…
