#FastestCrossing – A newly acquired passenger-only ferry is to offer the fastest ever crossing time to the Aran Islands, when Doolin Ferry introduce a highspeed craft just one month after the seasonal service resumes, writes Jehan Ashmore. Speaking to Afloat…

#MarineNotice - The latest Marine Notice from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises that University College Dublin is running a scientific wave measurement campaign deploying a bed mounted ADCP at Inis Meáin in the Aran Islands s…

#MarineScience - Taoiseach Enda Kenny today (Saturday 28 January) announced the creation of 20 new jobs and a €6 million investment in the Marine Institute's facility in Newport, Co Mayo. The 20 new positions will be based at Newport research…

#Tourism - The Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Titanic Belfast and the Causeway Coast will be first and foremost in Tourism Ireland’s marketing plans for the coming months as Ireland celebrates a record-breaking year for tourism in 2016. Coastal…

Clean Coasts partnered with Irish Water, for the second year running, launch the ‘Think Before You Flush’ Community Initiative. This programme aims to tackle the problems sanitary products can cause our waste water network and marine environment if flushed down…

#MarineScience - The Marine Institute is inviting students to apply for a number of work placement bursaries in many exciting areas for the summer of 2017. The Marine Institute Bursary Scholarship Scheme is worth €275 per week for an eight-…

OpenHydro, the Irish based tidal energy company and part of DCNS Energies, has appointed Mr Patrick Gougeon as their new Chief Executive Officer. The appointment signals the company’s ongoing drive towards commercialisation of its tidal technology and follows the launch…

#MarineWildlife - Ireland’s whales and dolphins feature in a new atlas of the country’s wildlife, as The Irish Times reports. The Atlas of Mammals in Ireland 2010-2015, published by the National Biodiversity Data Centre, maps the distribution of 77 mammal…

#AranIslands - Galway Bay FM reports that a new contract for the decades-old aeroplane service to the Aran Islands has been signed. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the long-awaited PSO contract will see flights continue between the Galway Bay islands…

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group reports on the stranding of three common dolphins in Dungarvan at the weekend. Two of the three dolphins were still alive when found on Friday (13 January), though they were in “poor…

#PairTrawling - Winter season pair trawling has been blamed for a spate of marine wildlife deaths on the Waterford coast this week, as the Irish Examiner reports. Locals in Ardmore discovered four seals and a porpoise washed up on their…

#ShippingReview - Jehan Ashmore reviews the shipping scene from among the following stories of recent weeks. ‘Safe and sustainable’ marine transport and ‘delivery of emergency management services’ have been made a high level goal in the Department of Transport’s Statement…

#Dredging - In recent weeks at Rosslare Europort a dredging programme was conducted within the harbour to remove spoil offshore, writes Jehan Ashmore. Dredging operations were carried out by Sospan Dau and assistance from tug Trojan. The resultant spoil was…

#MarineWildlife - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) reports the good news of the rescue of two live common dolphins that stranded on a Co Kerry beach at the weekend. IWDG volunteers found three dolphins at Tarbert on Sunday…

#AranIslands - Issues remain with the new contract for Aran Islands air services, according to one local senator. As Galway Bay FM reports, Senator Trevor O’Clochartaigh says the new PSO agreement imposes additional fees on flights not specified on the…

#LoughNeagh - Friends of the Earth (FoE) is appealing a ruling against its claims that Stormont is “turning a blind eye” to sand dredging in Lough Neagh, as the News Letter reports. The environmental group brought the issue before the…