#oceanenergy – Conor Haughey is to Chair the Irish Wave Energy Device Developers Association (IWEDA) following its inaugural meeting on 18 April, 2014 at NUI Maynooth. The organisation is made up of 11 Irish companies who are all developing different Ocean Energy…

#DoolinPier – A new Atlantic seaboard pier sought by ferry operators and fishermen at Doolin in County Clare is expected to be completed by mid-2015 following the signing of a major marine infrastructural project today. Brendan Howlin, T.D., Minister for Public…

#dalkeyisland – Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore says Dalkey Island harbour slipway works on Dublin Bay (as previously reported by Afloat.ie) are expected to be completed by the end of May. In his latest newsletter to Dun Laoghaire constituents, the local TD…

The EU should review the materials used in plastic bag manufacture and encourage greater usage of biodegradable carrier bags to prevent further marine environmental damage, according to Jim Higgins MEP, following a vote by the European Parliament on the issue…

#MarineWildlife - "There is no light and I've forgotten my headtorch. The walls close in and within a few seconds we are in total darkness. Something sparkles when I paddle. I put my hand in the water and spin it…

#sailforscience  – Solo non-stop 2012 circumnavigator of the Americas record-holder Matt Rutherford, homeport Annapolis USA, and Ocean Research Project founder, surveyed the Atlantic Sargasso Sea Gyre for plastics pollution in 2013, is now venturing to do the same in the Pacific for the…

#DalkeyIslandWorks - Work to upgrade the landing stage pier on Dalkey Island on south Dublin Bay have begun this Spring with completion due in May, writes Jehan Ashmore. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council are confident that following the upgraded harbour,…

#marinescience – The RV Celtic Explorer leaves Galway today (12th April) for Newfoundland and Labrador, on its fourth multi-institution transatlantic survey. The 13 day expedition across the Atlantic to St Johns, Newfoundland will involve four scientists from NUI Galway, as…

#CoastalNotes - Public Transport Minister Alan Kelly has announced the development of a major new and world-class greenway as part of a national €11 million funding for cycling infrastructure. The centrepiece of the funding will go towards construction of one…

#multibeam – A new multibeam sonar system fitted to the Marine Institute's Research Vessel Celtic Voyager will allow a new level of detail of seabed features to be captured during important mapping surveys around our coast. It will greatly increase…

#WildAtlanticWay - TheJournal.ie reports that an additional €1.4 million in State funding will be winging its way to the new Wild Atlantic Way scheme. Earlier this year Kinsale Yacht Club was announced as the starting point of the 2.500km coastal…

#CoastalNotes - An animal welfare officer has described as "planned and sinister" the dumping of a number of horse and cattle carcasses at the foot of the Baltard Cliffs in Doonbeg, Co Clare this week. As The Irish Times reports,…

#nuigalway – A recently-published report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes dire predictions about the adverse effects and impacts of climate change. The Irish Met Society and NUI Galway have joined up to organise a Symposium…

#Islands - Sea kayaking enthusiast David Walsh has published a second edition of Oileáin, his popular pictorial guide to Ireland's coastal islands, as TheJournal.ie reports. Now featuring some 574 islands - 503 of which the author has personally landed upon…

#MarineScience - The Marine Institute has announced an additional call for funded ship time on the RV Celtic Explorer and the RV Celtic Voyager. Applications are invited from research performing organisations including higher education institutions, public research bodies and industry…

#MarineWildlife - BBC News reports that Northern Ireland's Exploris aquarium will remain open for another two months as Ards Borough Council prepares to submit its business plan to save the facility in April. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the popular…