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Coastal Development in Ireland
Permanent signage now in place at Spanish Point and Whitestrand Miltown Malbay beaches in west Clare hopes to rid the beaches of the scourge of plastic litter. The signs (not made of plastic) ask beachgoers to take away three pieces…
The snake found by a member of Youghal Coast Guard last Thursday 3 January
A reptile feared to be a venomous turtle-headed sea snake was found on a beach on the East Cork coast on Thursday 3 January, as the Irish Examiner reports. However, minds were put at ease when the dead snake spotted…
Tom Dolan competing in the Solitaire du Figaro 2018 race.
#lectures- An illustrated lecture Sailing in the Fast Lane- What’s Next? by Tom Dolan is to be held next week, Thursday 10 January (20:00) at Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club Ringsend, Dublin.  Admission fee of €5 (in aid of Sailing into Wellness).  Tom…
#Coastal - An oil pollution incident yesterday at the south Wales port of Milford Haven, has led to a statement issued today on the latest developments. Mike Ryan, Harbourmaster at the port in Pembrokeshire, said: “A multi-agency response is continuing at…
The Pembrokeshire Port of Milford Haven, south Wales
#Coastal - Mike Ryan, Harbourmaster at the Port of Milford Haven, in south Wales announced this morning of an oil pollution incident. “We are responding to a report by Valero of a release of petroleum product into the Milford Haven…
#DublinBay - A dredger docked in Dun Laoghaire Harbour just days before Christmas Day, remains in port due to space restrictions in neighbouring Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore. The hopper dredger Freeway which Afloat tracked upon arrival to Dublin Port…
Climate change is upping the threat of erosion around Ireland's coast, with hundreds of homes across three counties particularly at risk
Climate change is accelerating the threat of coastal erosion for more than 40,000 people living in coastal communities, according to the Irish Independent. The warning comes from a new report commissioned by local authorities, and produced by the MaREI Centre…
Clare Guinness, CEO, Warrenpoint Port
Warrenpoint Port will no longer pursue proposals to change how it deals with dredged material. Authorities at the Port had been considering the feasibility of a new placement site in the mouth of Carlingford Lough between Cranfield Point and Greencastle.…
Bulloch Harbour in Dalkey, marks a Bicentenary this year since construction began in 1818 by the Ballast Board (now Dublin Port Company) and to celebrate a series of talks will be held in the Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre. Sadly the harbour hewn out of local granite suffered structural damage, not from the recent ravages of Storm Diana, but mostly attributed to Storm Emma in March. The area is unsafe for public use and access according to DPC which issued on Thursday an updated Notice to Mariners No. 31 (see below). Fortunately, repair works began last month involving lifting of tonnes of displaced granite blocks onto the main pier breakwater where works will continue to January 2019. Afloat highlights the area has been cordoned off on this breakwater, battered the most given the exposure of Dublin Bay.
#Bullock200 - The scenic south Dublin Bay harbour at Bulloch, Dalkey, is where construction on the stone-cut structure began in the winter 1818/19 and to celebrate the 200th anniversary a series of talks as Afloat previously highlighted will continue to…
Balbriggan Harbour looking south. It has its own special history, but now it is planned to link it more closely with the town.
When you’ve an ancient port town which happens to have the youngest population in all Ireland, clearly you face problems when the local authority proposes plans to upgrade the old harbour area to bring it more in line with the…
Pupils and teachers from St Colman’s Community College in Cork receive their School of the Year award
St Colman’s Community College in Midleton, Co Cork was named School of the Year in the recent Ocean Hero Awards presented by the Clean Coasts programme at the Clayton Hotel Cork City recently. This year Clean Coasts’ Ocean Hero Awards…
Popular Bray seafront in County Wicklow
An illustrated talk on the Maritime History of Bray in County Wicklow will take place in the Royal Hotel Bray on Thursday 21/02/2019 at 8pm by Brian White historian/author. The talk will trace the history of the five harbours of…
Howth's fishing fleet along with other stakeholders will find out what plans are in store in the new year for dredging in the harbour
Monday 12 November is the final date for receipt of tenders for engineering services for the long-awaited dredging of Howth Harbour. Howth Yacht Club Commodore Joe McPeake has confirmed the date after contact with the Department of Transport, Tourism and…
Wet Wipes Scourge of Irish Beaches In 2018 Coastwatch Survey
#CoastalNotes - Wet wipes are “in abundance” around the Irish coastline as the annual Coastwatch Survey draws to a close this week. According to RTÉ News, citizen science volunteers taking part in the ‘eco-audit’ of Ireland’s coasts — which has…
Exhibition: ‘SS Dundalk’ recounts tragic sinking and loss of life on the Irish Sea a century ago
#CoastalNotes - The economic, emotional and communal effects is encompassed in an exhibiton about the sinking of the SS Dundalk 100 years ago which was officially launched recently at the County Museum, Dundalk, by UK Defence Attaché, Colonel Darren Doherty.…
Proposals to move material collected during dredging at Carlingford Lough to within the bay. AFLOAT adds above cruiseship Saga Pearl II is seen off Warrenpoint Port
#Ports&Shipping - On both sides of the border, The Irish News writes campaigners are objecting to plans to deposit dredged material within Carlingford Lough, claiming it would bring nuclear substances into the bay. As covered on Afloat.ie, Warrenpoint Port is…

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.