Displaying items by tag: sailing.school.

4th November 2011

Tralee Bay Sailing School Enjoy a Coke and Five Grand

#SAILING SCHOOL – Tralee Bay Sailing School was one of the 15 winners, out of over 600 applicants, in the Island of Ireland 'Coca-Cola 125 Years Thank You Fund' awards.

Tralee Bay Sailing School has been awarded €5,000 euro to develop its Tralee Bay Access Sailing programme for people with physical and sensory disabilities in Kerry. The award will go towards a mobile hoist to enable people with disabilities to get in and out of a range of water based craft along with some equipment to upgrade the fleet of boats and equipment used to teach people with disabilities how to sail, kayak or use a power boat.

There were a couple of stages to this competition. Firstly the 600 entries were narrowed down to a shortlist of 45. This 45 then went to the public vote during the month of September. During that period the judging panel also came together to vote. Following the outcome of both the judges and the public vote the winning 15 groups were decided on.

The award ceremony took place in the Royal College of Physicians and was attended by Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community & Local Government, Mr Fergus O'Dowd TD.

The judging panel was made up of a variety of community leaders who were selected because of their proven track-record in making positive contributions to society. As well as Coca-Cola members included Dame Mary Peters, Past Olympian, Sarah O'Connor, Executive Director at The Federation of Irish Sports , Michael Ewing, CEO, Irish Environmental Network, Eoghan Murphy, Fine Gael TD , Deirdre Garvey , CEO, The Wheel and James Laverty, NICVA.

Coca-Cola_Awards_Photo

Pictured at the presentation of the Coca Cola 125 Thank You Fund Award from left to right are: Jenny Heaphy, Coca Cola Ireland, Jacqui Browne, Tralee Bay Sailing School, Minister Fergus O'Dowd and Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel.

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Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

The Irish Government's target to install 5,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in our maritime area by 2030 is set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. It also has the objective to source 80% of Ireland’s electricity needs from renewables by the same year. In line with this, ESB is applying its professional and proven engineering expertise to the challenges set within the Climate Action Plan.

ESB are committed to playing a strong role in developing Ireland’s offshore wind potential for the benefit of the people of Ireland. This will be done in consultation with marine users and local communities, and with due care for the marine environment.