Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes,  this week we congratulate Finn Lynch who is the latest member of the Irish sailing team bound for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro following the World Championships in Mexico this week......Laura Hannon visits Tourin House near Cappoquin on the banks of An Abhainn Mor for Seascapes where she meets with Dennis Murray and hears about the great rowing tradition on the Munster Blackwater..............

First this week on Seascapes to an award winning documentary film maker from Tipperary – Richie O Donnell who has produced a fine piece of work which follows the fortunes of three small fishing communities in Galway ; Norway and Newfoundland as they struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of mounting economic and ecological challenges , a few weeks ago Richie O Donnell came into studio and we discussed how “Atlantic “ took shape......

Here on Seascapes we’re talking with documentary film maker Richie O Donnell about his latest release “Atlantic “ which also looks at the issue of super trawlers which appear in Irish waters off the West Coast with devastating effect....

You can see “Atlantic “ in The Abbey Tavern in Howth next Thursday evening , tickets are available from the venue –Admission is €7 euro ., the screening is being hosted by Friends of Howth Maritime Museum ...many thanks to Pat Murphy for alerting Seascapes to this screening , the narration on “Atlantic” is by distinguished actor Brendan Gleeson.....

Congratulations to a young man whom we’ve been following for over a decade here on Seascapes .........At the Laser class World Championships in Mexico on Wednesday night 20 year old Finn Lynch from Carlow became the youngest ever Irish sailing helmsman to qualify for the Olympic Games.

The World Championships was the third and final trial in the selection series for three contenders including London 2012 veteran James Espey along with up and coming Baltimore sailor Fionn Lyden. James Espey led by 6 points going into the final trial but finished 24 places behind Finn. Fionn Lyden narrowed the gap on James by finishing 11 places ahead of him at the Worlds but still finished the trial third.

Sailing for the National Yacht Club, Finn Lynch emerged from the four day preliminary round of the world championship as the only Irish sailor to reach the Gold fleet for the top 56 competitors in the 112-strong event. That result helped secure an advantage over Espey and Lyden who sailed the finals in the separate Silver fleet, overall they finished 67th and 78th respectively. Lynch placed 54th in the Gold and overall. ........

Competing in the Men’s single-handed event, Lynch will now join newcomers Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey along with London 2012 veteran Annalise Murphy and Ryan Seaton with Matt McGovern to be nominated by the board of the Irish Sailing Association to the Olympic Council of Ireland for inclusion in the Irish team at Rio 2016

Next here on Seascapes to An Abhainn Mor , a few weeks ago Laura Hannon headed for Cappoquin and Tourin House on the river to meet up with Dennis Murray....

The film “Badoiri “ is being screened on RTE One Television on Monday night .....Using still images and film footage taken over thirty years ago photographer Joe St Leger tells the story of capturing images of the last of the hooker boatmen of Connemara.

For centuries Galway hookers sailed the waters of Galway Bay transporting people, goods and animals and connecting remote coastal communities with the Aran Islands, Galway city and market towns like Kinvara. Celebrated every year in the annual Cruinniu na mBad...... Transport and fishing once provided work for hundreds of these boats and their crews but by the 1960s their working days were coming to an end and many old boats were abandoned.

In the 1980’s attempts were made to revive interest in the craft starting with the annual Crinniú na mBád or Gathering of the Boats in Kinvara and to preserve for future generations the skills needed to build and to sail them.......

This film “ Badoiri “ by Joe St Leger uses photographs taken during the revival to document what remained of the Galway hookers and of the people aboard .....the film can be seen this Monday night 23rd May @ 7.30pm on RTE One Television not to be missed...........

This weekend also on television you can see Kenneth Branagh as “Shackleton “ marking the centenary of the loss of The Endurance on More 4 on this Sunday night @ 9.00pm .....

Next Friday night prior to the opening of the Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival ....John Kearon will give an illustrated talk on the restoration of the “ASGARD “.....conserving Erskine Childers historic yacht...

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes, this week we have a report from last weekend’s commemoration in Ventry of the O‘Rahilly from Grainne McPolin for Seascapes, we’ll also be hearing from historian Brandn O Ciobhain on the background to the event ; Sarah Murphy visits the world heritage site and exotic maritime heritage port city of Valparaiso in Chile at the foot of the Andes and we’ll hear the music of Astor Piazzolla arriving by land rather than by sea .................first this week here on Seascapes we met up with scientist Denis Crowley in Galway some weeks ago as the Skipper Expo was concluding, we talked to Denis about his work as a scientist with the Marine Institute in Galway, the Holland 1 ROV and the research vessels Celtic Voyager and Celtic Explorer.....................here then is Denis Crowley.........

The Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars Programme 2016 is an intensive, accredited workshop aimed at examining how climate and oceans interact, with particular examples from the Atlantic Ocean and higher latitudes. The workshop will consist of lectures, practical sessions and fieldtrips delivered by experts from Ireland and Germany. It is open to International postgraduate students (Masters and Doctoral) of marine, atmosphere and climate-related sciences and will be held in Galway, Ireland from 12 to 20 September 2016.

Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars is a collaboration between the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research & Training (SMART), NUI Galway, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Partnership for the Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), the Helmholtz Climate programme REKLIM and is supported by the Nippon Foundation.

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The impacts of human activities on natural climate mechanisms will be examined in detail with reference to the 2013 IPCC Assessment Report. All major components of the climate system will be addressed, with special focus on the Atlantic Ocean and its ecosystems. Tools for modelling and observations will be presented, as well as sessions on policy and societal response to global climate change. Workshop sessions will focus on:
· The role of the carbon system in the ocean

· The role of Marine Ecosystems and the services they provide

· The basic science that underpins Climate Modelling

· Future tools for modelling, measuring and observing the Atlantic Ocean

· Climate policy, legal framework, and marine management for the Atlantic Ocean

Applications to join Atlantic Climate are through online application form and will remain open until the deadline of Friday 3 June 2016 at 18:00 UTC. Further information is available on the SMART Website or by contacting [email protected] Also please find attached the event poster for Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars Programme 2016.

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Dr John Treacy whom we spoke to recently.... has been appointed Honorary Research Officer for the Maritime Institute of Ireland, who operate the National Maritime Museum of Ireland. Over the next five years he will be conducting academic research and publication to promote and preserve Ireland's rich and diverse maritime heritage. He hope’s this will serve to increase awareness of the critical place maritime affairs have had; past, present and future, to the political, social and economic well-being of the island of Ireland.......Congratulations John from Seascapes and the maritime community .....fair sailing”

Next here on Seascapes to South America and a city whose streets are resplendent with multi coloured buildings and avenues of Jacaranda trees, Sara Murphy travelled to Valparaiso and has this tale about the World Heritage site for Seascapes .....

Sarah Murphy on the historic city of Valparaiso, the music was “Libertango “ from Astor Piazzolla and you can see some of Sarah’s photographs of Valparaiso on the Seascapes webpage ...
www .rte.ie/radio1/seascapes

We’ll be bring you highlights from the H.E. President Michael D Higgins visit to Banna Strand and the Casement commemorations here on Seascapes in a few weeks time .....

The Kerry Amateur Radio Group will participate as an Award Station in this year's International Marconi Day event on tomorrow Saturday 23rd April, which celebrates the birthday of “the father of radio communications,” Gugliemo Marconi.
The group of Amateur Radio enthusiasts will set up a radio communications station at Colaiste Brhreanainn on the site of the former Marconi Station in Ballybunion, Co. Kerry.

Amateur Radio operators worldwide will participate in the international event which will see them attempt to make radio contact with special stations set up at the location of former Marconi radio communication stations like the one in Ballybunion.
A certificate is awarded to those Amateur Radio operators who make successful radio contact with a prescribed number of Marconi stations.

The Marconi station in Ballybunnion made history by establishing the first transatlantic voice radio transmission in March 1919 to the Marconi Station located at Louisberg, Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland.

The Kerry Amateur Radio Group have previously participated in this event, making radio contacts with Amateur Radio operators in countries and continents all over the globe including the Falkland Islands, Russia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Africa and America to name a few.

Some details of the event and the history of the Marconi station can be found on the Amateur Radio website QRZ.com at the following address http://qrz.com/db/ei6yxq

Next here on Seascapes to the Kerry village of Ventry where last weekend Ventry Historical Society held a Centenary Commemoration in honour of the O’Rahilly, the dedication ceremony of a marble bench looking out to sea took place last Saturday in glorious weather, originally from Ballylongford, Michael O Rahilly bought a Summer house in Ventry where he and his wife wanted their children to be fluent in the Irish language. The commemoration was a celebration of the life of The O Rahilly, Grainne McPolin went along for Seascapes to meet historian Brendan O Ciobhain ..........

At a special ceremony held on Saturday last, Sligo Bay RNLI officially named its new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Sheila & Dennis Tongue, at its station in Rosses Point. You can see and read more on the Seascapes webpage.....

Peter Killen, a member of the Irish Council of the RNLI, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI before handing her over into the care of Sligo Bay Lifeboat Station. He paid tribute to the donors Sheila & Dennis Tongue who had left a generous legacy to the RNLI in recognition of the vital life-saving work of the charity and as a thank-you for the happy days they spent living on the coast at Exmouth.

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The couple were born in Birmingham in the 1920s and on Dennis’s retirement they moved to Devon where they lived until their eighties, overlooking the coast. The couple did not have any children and it was during their retirement that they came to know and admire the work of the RNLI and recognise its place in the life of the communities it served.

The couple were represented today by their nephews Raymond and Philip Tongue who travelled to Ireland for the special occasion.
Philip had the honour of officially naming the lifeboat during the ceremony which was also attended by the donor family of Elsinore, Sligo Bay’s former lifeboat which during her 13 years on service launched 189 times and brought 155 people to safety.
The new state of the art Atlantic 85 lifeboat was introduced into the RNLI fleet in 2005. The lifeboat is 8.4 metres in length and weighs 1.8 tonnes. Improvements on its predecessor include a faster top speed of 35 knots, radar, provision for a fourth crew member and more space for survivors.
Since the new lifeboat went on service on Sligo Bay in November it has launched four times to call outs.

During the event, Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said the naming ceremony and service of dedication was a wonderful occasion in the history of the lifeboat station, and marked the tremendous generosity of Sheila and Dennis Tongue.
‘It is wonderful to have the opportunity to thank the family directly for this amazing generosity. We assure you that you will always have a warm welcome here among us and we genuinely hope you will come and visit. We also commit to you our utmost dedication in ensuring that this wonderful new lifeboat is indeed a lifesaver in Sligo Bay.’

A lifeboat station was established at Sligo Bay in 1998. Situated at Rosses Point it is flanked by stations at Ballyglass to the south and Bundoran to the north.
In 1998, a D class lifeboat was sent to the station for evaluation and in 1999 an Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-525 Spix’s Macaw was placed on temporary station duty on 12 March.
An Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-512 US Navy League was placed on station on the 26 October.
On the 2 February 2002, B-781 Elsinore, an Atlantic 75 class, was put on service.
The new lifeboat, an Atlantic 85 and the latest version of the B class, was placed on service on the 19 November last year.
A crowd of well-wishers turned up to see the lifeboat officially named today with a bottle of champagne poured over the side of the boat before it launched at the end of the ceremony.

This summer Sailing In Dublin Club are planning to cruise right around Ireland on their club yacht "Silver Wind", with a number of weeks on the South, West and North Coasts of Ireland. If you are interested in joining them for a week or more contact [email protected]
Also artist Brian Palm has an exhibition in Duke Street Gallery running until the end of May on “The Myths of the Helga” which was opened last Thursday by Commodore Hugh Tully, Flag Officer Commanding, The Naval Service and attended by His Excellency Dominick Chilcott, British Ambassador to Ireland......you can see more on the Seascapes webpage ......

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes ...(scroll down to listen) this week maritime historian Sean Rickard writes about the Shannon Turf Boats; we have a report from the recent Fishermans Friend Irish Mens Shed Association Awards held in the National Maritime Museum we’ll be hearing from Barry Sheridan, CEO of the Irish Mens Shed Association and Martin Stimson from Fishermans Friend, we’ll also meet Adrian Holden and Ray Byrne of the Cooley Peninsula Mens Shed Group members of the Irish Mens Shed Association who were overall winners of The Fishermans Friend Award ........first this week to Youghal where Ron Coveney went along for Seascapes to visit Safehaven Marine who are designers and builders of Pilot boats; patrol boats; crew transfer vessels; hydrographic survey catamarans and military craft, the company was established in 1996 and is based in Youghal and Little Island, they have built over one hundred and ten vessels and have supplied craft to over twenty six countries worldwide and are leaders in their field ..............we hear about one of their unique designs “The Barracuda“ as Ron Coveney spoke to Managing Director Frank Kowalski ..........

Frank Kowalski, Managing Director of SafeHaven Marine in Youghal talking to Ron Coveney for Seascapes ... you can see and read more on the Seascapes webpage and also you can visit the SafeHaven Marine website 

Next here on Seascapes to the Shannon and its riverine heritage Sean Rickard has this account of The Shannon Turf Boats...

“ Even before the arrival of the Vikings, the River Shannon was used by indigenous people as a local highway for traffic serving the various communities and villages along its banks. Traffic only crossed at opposite sides of the river but also served to transport goods and people along great stretches to opposite ends of the river system. This riverine traffic increased significantly in the late 18th Century on the expansion of regional metropoli like Limerick Kilrush and Ennis and following the construction of the canals that linked the Shannon with Dublin. Much of the traffic remained regional and here we examine the historic turf trade on the lower part of the Shannon Estuary.

Like all maritime transport, using a waterway was smoother, safer and more efficient throughout history than the alternative use of terrestrial transportation . Who would build and maintain roads and protect them from Highwaymen? So riverine traffic at this section of the river remained very popular, particularly at serving the city of Limerick and conversely the rural hinterland well into the 20th Century largely attributed to the proximity of a large bog at Poolnasherry one of the main suppliers of turf to Limerick and as a regional port of convenience to transatlantic trade. Indeed, Limerick enjoyed a similar with Shannonside towns as Galway city has with the nearby Aran Islands.

During the riverine turf transporting period, mostly small hookers along with other small vessels collectively plied the River Shannon .....Though Cots, Gandelows, Curraghs, Gabbards and other vessels ran turf along the Shannon, by far the most popular vessel in the trade from the 18th Century to its demise was the Shannon Hooker.

These vessels were generally very similar if not identical to the modern replica “Sally O’Keefe” itself built in Querrin near Scattery Island, many vessels in the trade....as the shipwrights that built them would attest had a close resemblance to the Galway Hookers such as Leath Bhads; Gleoiteogs and Pucans with obvious differences in construction.

In 1845 an average turf boat normally employed a boatman and a boy or indeed two men and a young lad for the larger vessels and they normally earned about £200 pounds a year. They transported turf which was in the main landed at Arthurs’ Quay in Limerick City and these vessels often returned with a variety of cargoes sourced at Limerick. Turf boats were predominantly owned by the prominent merchants in their respective communities but were also owned by turf dealers in the city of Limerick.

Over the centuries there were several tragic losses and tall tales about turf boats kept alive in folk memory and handed down as part of the oral tradition of the riverine communities. All traditional sea and riverine faring often invoked a strong belief in the supernatural . One custom among the Shannon boatmen was described by local writer of the period Gerald Griffin in 1833 who wrote ...

“ .......it is perhaps, not generally known, even in Ireland, that the Shannon, which derives its name from its patron, St Senanus, is yet further honoured by the countenance of two minor spiritual dignitaries, Saints Margeret and Martin.

The former is looked up to in all cases of peril on the water, and every good boatman preserves a faithful copy of her remarkable life about his person, as an infallible talisman; offering up occasionally a few paters and aves to win more special regard. St Martin however, on the contrary, seems to win their homage and attention in some countries, rather out of fear than out of respect.

A holiday is kept to honour him once a year and they seem to understand his temper so well, that if chance, or accident, should blow them out of harbour during its tedious lapse, they anticipate, with no little degree of certainty, some unprecedented calamity. With such prepossessions, it was no wonder it should have excited the astonishment of all boatmen on the river, to see, on one of those festivals of rest, the Coobah, a handsome cutter rigged turf boat, off Ringmoylan, beating up against a strong easterly gale, which was every hour becoming more formidable ...”

As Sean Rickard writes such stories as this by Gerald Griffin would vanish in a lifetime, as the Shannon turf trade ended at Limerick City shortly before the Great War, and though efforts had been made to revive it, it has passed into the realm of our cherished maritime heritage. The Story of the Shannon Turf Boats by Sean Rickard – you can read this and see a photo of the Sally O’Keefe on the Seascapes webpage......

Well from the River Shannon to the National Maritime Museum where a few weeks ago the Irish Mens Shed Association and the Awards sponsor Fishermans Friend held an exhibition of artworks created by Mens Shed groups throughout the island of Ireland to encapsulate the essence of what the Mens Shed concept represents Seascapes spoke to Barry Sheridan, CEO of Irish Mens Shed Association and Marin Stimson of Fishermans Friend....

Well from the background of the event to the overall winners the Mens Shed Group from the Cooley Peninsula, we can hear from Ray Byrne in a moment first to Adrian Holden of The Cooley Peninsula Mens Shed Group...

The MOD 70s, Musandam – OmanSail and Concise 10 have registered as entrants to the 2016 Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race.

Ned Collier-Wakefield will bring Concise 10 to Wicklow in June after having picked up his weight in rum as the prize for winning the Grand Prix Multi Hull event and smashing the all-time course record in the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race in March.

Musandam – OmanSail holds the record for a circumnavigation of the island of Ireland under sail, achieved in May of last year and the team are looking forward to beating this record in a race setting. The Omani team in 2016 will be much the same as last year, with their skipper Sidney Gavignet. However, we are excited to see that Kerryman Damian Foxall, a Round the World veteran, will return to their team for the 2016 Volvo Round Ireland.

The official race record for a monohull is held by Mike Slade who completed the race in 2 days 17 hours 48 minutes 47 seconds in ICAP Leopard 3 in 2008.

National award for new Doolin Pier development

The new Doolin Pier development has won the prestigious Irish Concrete Society Award for Infrastructural Projects delivered during 2015.

The award was presented this week to Clare County Council, the contractor L & M Keating Ltd; consulting engineers Punch Consulting, Malachy Walsh & Partners and the main material suppliers for the €6m project, namely Banagher Precast Concrete, Cairealacht Chill-Bhride Teo, Ryan Bros. (Ennis) and McGrath's Quarry.

Among the other shortlisted projects which competed for the Infrastructure Award were the Corrib Tunnel Infill in Co Mayo, the Cloghran AIS Substation in Dublin, Dublin Airport Concrete Apron, Carrigtwohill Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cork and Bridge Projects in Donegal, Sligo and Tyrone.

“Thats all for this weeks edition of Seascapes, on the sound desk this week Bryan Fitzpatrick, next Friday night we meet Dennis Crowley, a scientist at The Marine Institute in Galway ; Sara Murphy takes Seascapes listeners on a visit to Valparaiso, the World Heritage site in Chile a place and a port that resonates with the giants of Irish maritime history from Bransfield to Halpin, Admiral Guillermo Brown to Bernardo O’Higgins .....and we have a report from Ventry where this weekend a special ceremony takes place to mark the centenary.

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes ...(scroll down to listern). Hugh Oram talks to the programme about his latest book on Sandymount published by The History Press Ireland and we hear the story of Sandymount Pier .......The Venture Cup of Speedboat racing is coming here in July you can see and read more here ..... MARei has secured three quarters of a million euros in further funding from NTR ; Dr Edward Bourke will be giving a talk in Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Ringsend on Thursday next on “ Maritime Aspects of the 1916 Rising “ as the final talk in the series of Glenua Sailing Centre lecture season .....................first this week we bring you a report from last weekend’s Seminar on the Sea and the Easter Rising titled “ Revolution on an Island” and held in the National Maritime College of Ireland organised and hosted by The Irish Maritime Forum ...... the sessions were chaired by Dr John Borgonovo, School of History, University College Cork and by Commander Brian FitzGerald of the Naval Service, the event drew a large attendance in Ringaskiddy where we met many regular Seascapes listeners ... we’ll be talking to Dr Ian Speller and Dr John Treacy we hear first from Daire Brunicardi, retired Senior Lecturer at the National Maritime College he is a Master Mariner and a Fellow of the Nautical Institute he delivered a paper on The Royal Navy during the Easter Rising...

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes .....this week we’ll be hearing from
Richard McCormick, President of the Maritime Institute on the re publication of John de Courcy Irelands’ “The Sea and the Easter Rising “ also details about a series of illustrated talks over the coming months in The National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire to mark the centenary of 1916 ; we preview the Maritime Forum scheduled for this Saturday in the National Maritime College of Ireland we’ll be speaking with James Robinson former President of The Nautical Institute and we mark the 10th Anniversary of John de Courcy Ireland’s passing...first to the National Maritime Museum of Ireland on Haigh Terrace in Dun Laoghaire and to Richard McCormick who explained to Seascapes the illustrated panels that can be seen in the Museum assembled by Padraic O Brolchain ......

Richard McCormick, President of the Maritime Institute, those lectures in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland began last month with Pat Murphy’s talk on the ASGARD, next Tuesday 5th April – Dr John Treacy will speak on The Silent Shore, The Aud, Roger Casement and Banna Strand ...whilst later this month Cormac Lowth will deliver a lecture on The Aud and The Helga in the 1916 Rising, you can find the full list of lectures on the Seascapes webpage – www.rte.ie/radio1/seascapes

Described as one of the greatest figures in our maritime history –Dr John de Courcy Ireland teacher, author, mariner, historian, adventurer and a great crusader for this country’s maritime and marine heritage passed away ten years ago on the 4th April in 2006 so we remember him with these extracts taken from a recording produced by The Marine Institute titled “The Seafaring Irish – A Life ..........

Dr John de Courcy Ireland author of many books including the recently republished “The Sea and the Easter Rising” available from The National Maritime Museum......John is the subject of an illustrated lecture in tribute to the highly respected maritime historian Dr John de Courcy Ireland on Thursday 9th June in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland ......

You can read more about Dr John de Courcy Ireland in Sailing By
Celebrating twenty five years of Seascapes published by The Liffey Press.....

On this Saturday The Irish Maritime Forum are hosting a one day seminar titled “ Revolution on an Island “ –The Maritime Aspects of the 1916 Rebellion at The National Maritime College of Ireland earlier today we spoke to James Robinson about the seminar and the contributing speakers.......

James Robinson on the one day seminar hosted by The Irish Maritime Forum – “Revolution on an Island” we’ll have a full report here on Seascapes next week.....

Well that’s it for this week here on Seascapes, next Friday night
We talk to Hugh Oram about his latest book on Sandymount published by “The History Press Ireland and also hear the tale of Sandymount Pier ; Bert Williams and his record cod of ninety three pounds ; we ‘ll have a full report from “Revolution on an Island” held in the National Maritime College of Ireland .... all that and much more here on Seascapes.....until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing. “

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes .......this week we hear more from the recent Dive Ireland Conference in Athlone with Richard Thorne and Rory Golden; we have music from John Beag O Flatharta from Conamara ; the winners of the history of Irish Water Safety by Tiarnan O Sullivan in our Seascapes competition ...first this week to the Lewis Symposium held at the National Maritime College of Ireland which we featured a few weeks ago we’ll be hearing from Margaret Stack ; Georgina Foley and Professor Robert Devoy .......we hear first from one of the great innovators of Ocean energy - Professor Stephen Salter, Emeritus Professor of Edinburgh University who addressed the gathering on the history of Ocean energy .....

From Emeritus Professor Stephen Salter to Professor Margaret Stack of the University of Strathclyde .....

Well from Strathclyde in Scotland and Professor Margaret Stack to Professor Robert Devoy of the Coastal Marine Research Centre ...

The voice there of Georgina Foley in The Beaufort Building from the recent Lewis Symposium honouring Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis ......

Following a four month delay, World Sailing (formerly ISAF) have confirmed that Ireland’s Andrea Brewster and Saskia Tidey have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 49erFX event.

News yesterday that Africa would not enter the event released another European place and as the next in line based on the world championships in Argentina, Providence Team IRL's Brewster and Tidey have secured qualification for Ireland. We congratulate them...

So to our competition which was for copies of the History of Irish Water Safety by Tiarnan O Sulliva , we asked you tell us where they have their headquarters ..the Answer was Galway and our winners from a large entry are ;-

Dave Attrill of Harwich

Margaret Bourke of Thurles, Co Tipperary

Peter Mc Gettigan , Lifford , Co Donegal

We return to the recent Dive Irland Conference in Athlone where we met a great friend of the programme and a regular contributor to Seascapes – Flagship Scubas Rory Golden

From Rory Golden to Richard Thorne who had a piece in the latest edition of SUBSEA Ireland’s only diving magazine ..Richard talked to Seascapes about snorkelling.....

On Monday night I was in Cobh for a fundraising night by the World Ship Society , Cobh branch where they had music by Molgoggers and raised a considerable sum for the Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat Station ......and the following day I was at the Mens Shed gathering in the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire in an event supported by Fishermans Friend , we’ll hear more in the coming weeks and we’ll talking to the overall winners from the Cooley Peninsula...........

Well that’s it for this week here on Seascapes, next Friday night Richard McCormick, President of the Maritime Institute on the republication of John de Courcy Ireland's’ “The Sea and the Easter Rising “ by The National Maritime Museum and a series of illustrated talks over the coming months to mark the centenary of 1916 ; we preview the Maritime Forum scheduled for next weekend in the National Maritime College of Ireland ; and we mark the 10th Anniversary of John de Courcy Ireland’s passing we have all that and much more here on Seascapes, Happy Easter ... ...until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing. “

"Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes .....this week we hear from Noel McDonagh of Lost At Sea Tragedies – L.A.S.T who we met at the recent Skipper Expo in Galway – we have copies of the History of Irish Water Safety by Tiarnan O Sullivan in our Seascapes competition ....first this week to the Dive Ireland Conference held recently in Athlone on the shores of Lough Ree hosted by Athlone Sub Aqua Club in the Hodson Bay Hotel , we met up with one of the founding fathers of the Irish Underwater Council / Comhairle Fo Thuinn veteran diver and swimmer Mick Moriarty ......

Well from Mick Moriarty to Cormac Nott ; Cian Hynes and this man Liam Sheringham of Athlone Sub Aqua Club Liam is Search And Recovery Officer .....

.............from Liam Sheringhan , Search and Recovery Officer to Dive Show CoOrdinator from Athlone Sub Aqua Club ...Cian Hynes...

next we met Secretary of the Club Cormac Nott.... 

Our thanks to PRO Pat McManus for all his assistance at The Dive Ireland Conference in Athlone, we’ll have more on Seascapes next week with Richard Thorne on snorkelling and we’ll be talking to Rory Golden of Flagship Scuba ...

So to our competition for copies of the History of Irish Water Safety by Tiarnan O Sullivan, can you tell us where they have their headquarters ..hint.... its the city of the tribes .....Answers on a postcard to Seascapes , RTE Radio 1, Fr Mathew Street, Cork or by email to [email protected] .ie ......

Next here on Seascapes to a good friend of the programme whom we met first on the banks of The Suir a decade ago ..he is Noel McDonagh Founder of Lost At Sea Tragedies we met up at the Skipper Expo in Galway ....

Noel McDonagh of Lost At Sea Tragedies , on Monday night in Cobh at The Commodore Hotel the World Ships Society, Cobh Branch are hosting a fund raising evening for the Ballycotton branch of The RNLI Lifeboat service, you can hear about the history of the Ballycotton Station and there’s music from “Molgoggers” ...we’ll be there ..all are welcome and admission is free. The evening commences at 20.00hrs and there are full details on the Seascapes webpage...www.rte.ie/radio1/seascapes

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes .....this week we hear about efforts afoot to assist in the restoration of “Moonduster”; we have the results of our recent competition for copies of Carsten Kriegers ‘ “This Is the Burren” courtesy of The Collins Press ; we talk to Donal Boland whom we met last weekend in Athlone whilst we were at The Dive Ireland Conference about a gathering in Lynches of Tullamore this weekend focussing on The Mid Shannon with a wide range of speakers; how the British Ambassador to Ireland HE Mr Dominick Chilcott earlier this week paid homage to Sir Ernest Shackleton and members of the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition and the Centenary of their return home with Tom Crean and our many maritime heroes celebrated by author Michael Smith who addressed the large gathering in the Ambassadors’ residence with descendants of the Shackleton and Crean families present, the Shackleton Mueseum in Athy and all branches of the forces including Chief of Staff of The Defence Forces – Vice Admiral Mark Mellett just returned from Mali..... ....first this week to last weekend’s Skipper Expo in Galway – Seascapes was there on Saturday where we met many regular listeners and contributors – one man whom I remember reading as a young boy was there, the veteran journalist and founding editor of The Skipper now in his eighties Arthur Reynolds had this to say....

Read also WM Nixon: Why Moonduster Should Not Make Ireland Her Home After Restoration 

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme ... this weekend on Saturday and Sunday - Dive Ireland 2016 the Annual conference hosted by the Irish Underwater Council and Athlone Sub Aqua takes place in the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone with a panel of experts speaking on a wide range of topics and a large selection of exhibitors showing their wares; also in Galway the Skipper Expo which began earlier today runs until Saturday afternoon in the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill – Seascapes will be attending both events and hope to meet up with you there...

First on Seascapes this week... to an event held in the maritime hub of Cork Harbour earlier this week – titled the Lewis Symposium the two day event honoured Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis of University College Cork considered to be the father of Ocean Energy in this country ...let’s hear first from Professor Sarah Culloty of University College Cork, Head of School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Director- Environmental Research Institute...

Read also: Marine Renewable Energy Leaders Convene In Cork

Hello and welcome aboard this weeks edition of your maritime programme, we have music from Molgoggers, we preview the Lewis Symposium presented by MaREI – Ocean Energy; Theory, Practice and Integration hosted by the Environmental Research Institute Beaufort Building, University College Cork by visiting the Seascapes archive and hearing from Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis ....the remarkable HMS Caroline the Battle of Jutlands only afloat survivor in Belfast soon to open as a heritage visitor attraction, Fergal Keane visits the annual Angling Expo in the National Show Centre held last weekend ..... and our competition for copies of “This Is the Burren” by photographer Carsten Krieger courtesy of The Collins Press; ....First here on Seascapes to the Raidio na Gaeltachta Studios in Derrybeg near Gweedore to hear from Hugh Bonner of Mara Media who publish The Irish Skipper and host the Skipper Expo with over one hundred exhibitors in Galway next weekend on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th March at The Galway Bay Hotel...

The Winter lecture 2015/16 season of the Glenua Sailing Centre continues with a double lecture programme at the March meeting entitled: ‘The Sea From Two Perspectives’.

The illustrated lectures will take place on next Thursday 3 March (20:00hrs) at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the R.N.L.I

The first lecture, “Art and The Sea - An Enduring Fascination” will be given by Jessica O’Donnell who is Collections Curator at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. Jessica is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the University of St Andrews.

Jessica’s talk will explore how artists have been captivated by the sea from many perspectives including how the Impressionists loved portraying people at leisure by the sea; how safeguarding the freedom of the seas was represented in artworks commissioned as war time propaganda; to contemporary artists whose fascination with the sea and marine life continues to inspire.

The second lecture is entitled, “Putting Eyes In The Deep Ocean” by Dr Fiona Grant, Ocean Science & Information Services (OSIS), Marine Institute, Ireland. Fiona began her studies in geology before going on to specialise in marine geophysics and earth system dynamics. Her first job was as conservation coordinator for wild salmon and sea trout before taking responsibility for research infrastructures in the Marine Institute.

Dr Fiona Grant will focus on some of the challenges in observing the deep ocean environment, how to harness ocean energy in Galway Bay and present some of the latest results from studies in the Atlantic Ocean.....

The annual Ireland Angling Show was held in the National Show Centre in Swords in Dublin last weekend. ..........Fergal Keane went along for Seascapes.

Hi Marcus,

It's nearly 3 years since you put out a call on Seascapes to help us find people who had built IDRA 14 dinghies in the past or had plans that we didn't know about.Well, we're now coming towards the end of our project! We did meet with some listeners to your programme, who got in touch during that time and visited our project. Thought you might like to know how we're doing.

As we enter into the 70th anniversary year of the IDRA 14 Dinghy, we're delighted to be able to announce the launch date for the new wooden clinker-built IDRA 14 dinghy, being built in Clontarf, the first to be built in well over 35 years.

Look at it now............Riveting completed, floor bearers in place, spinny shute in place, foredeck on - we're ready now to put the deck on and close up the boat! :-) Find out more in our latest update.

Next to Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis of University College Cork , back in October of last year we were in Croke Park for an Ocean Energy Conference and we spoke to Tony ...

On Monday and Tuesday the Environmental Research Institute Beaufort Building hosts MaREI –The Lewis Symposium on Ocean Energy : Theory Practice and Integration at the National Maritime College of Ireland .....speakers will include Professor Tony Lewis ; Eoin Sweeney on Marine Renewables in Ireland ; Professor Stephen Salter , Emeritus Professor University of Edinburgh ; Professor Trevor Whittaker , Queens University Belfast on the Industrial History of Ocean Energy and Professor Alistair Borthwick , University of Edinburgh on tides and Tidal Power , we’ll have more detail on the speakers and topics at the Lewis Symposium and we’ll have a full report on Seascapes next week....,.

The War at Sea is rarely considered when discussing the impact of the First World War but, although it involved far fewer men on the front line, keeping the seas safe and the vital supplies flowing to feed the Army and the people of Britain and Ireland cannot be overlooked. From across Ireland over 10,000 men served in the Royal Navy, but many tens of thousands more served in the merchant fleet, continued to fish despite the hostile submarine threat, provided essential rescue services off our coasts and maintained the essential industries directly linked to the sea.

31st May 2016 is the Centenary of the Battle of Jutland, which was the most significant naval engagement of WW1. This is the chosen date to mark the contribution of all involved in war and life at sea 1914 – 1918 with a Commemoration to the Irish Sailor in the Great War. The event will be run in Belfast next to Jutland’s only afloat survivor, HMS Caroline, and will include her official opening as a heritage visitor attraction. The commemoration will connect people in maritime activity a hundred years ago with descendants, and to those engaged in similar activity today.