EU fisheries and oceans commissioner Costas Kadis is due to open European Maritime Day, a three day festival in Cork from Thursday, May 21st.
The Cypriot commissioner will be joined by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy Darragh O'Brien and Lord Mayor of Cork Dan Boyle.
Billed as a place where “ocean leaders meet”, it is also described as a “platform for dialogues with stakeholders and coastal communities”.
However, several representatives of Irish coastal communities who tried to register for events found they had booked out very quickly after first advertised in early March.
Some who successfully registered were then advised that access would be online only.
A keynote event is the Blue Forum fisheries and ocean dialogue, taking place on May 22nd and 23rd. This “dialogue”, which was held in Brussels in March, is intended to contribute toward a number of measures, including new legislation and a “European Ocean Pact”.
The pact, described by the Commission as “envisioned in European Commission President von der Leyen’s political guidelines”, will “ensure a holistic approach to ocean governance - integrating biodiversity protection, blue economy resilience, and marine knowledge consolidation”.
The fisheries and ocean dialogue is split into sessions on policy, sustainable blue economy, and the international dimension, with panellists including Charlina Vitcheva, director general of DG Mare at the European Commission.
Maritime security, marine spatial planning, food security, shipping and coastal communities are other themes at the conference spread over several venues, including Cork City Hall.
A free two-day public event on Cork city’s quays on Friday and Saturday includes opportunities to visit Marine Institute research vessel, Tom Crean.
The EU has billed the event as “an engaging and interactive experience to catch up on the current state of play on a broad range of issues concerning the blue economy and the marine environment and to discuss ways of moving forward”.
It said it “features inspirational speakers, thematic sessions, stakeholder workshops, exhibition and lots of networking opportunities. The EMD targets professionals from businesses, governments, public institutions, NGOs and academia as well as EU citizens interested in the sea”.
The European Commission, the Cork City Council and the Irish ministry Department of Environment, Climate and Communications are joint hosts of the event, with facilitation by Seamus Kearney Media.
