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Displaying items by tag: Afloat Calender Dates

#HeritageWeek – As part of Heritage Week events, Norwegian tallship, Statsraad Lehmkuhl will be open today, Saturday, 20 August at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin, with 'shanty' singing sailors between 2 and 4pm. No booking required nor admission fee.

In addition to the nautical theme, an exhibition to capture the history of Dublin Docks and surrounding dockland communities for the period 1960 to 1973, is to be held in Dublin next week.

The exhibition will feature photographs, memorabilia and copies of the Waterfront News, which was a unique publication/newspaper, that not only captured what was going on in Dublin Docks and the dockland communities but gave a flavour of what was going on in Irish society at that time.

The exhibition organised by Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society will be held at Dublin City Council Civic Offices on Wood Quay.

Opening dates are from Monday 22 to Friday 26 August, and times are between 09.00 – 17.00. No booking is required nor admission fee.

Further exhibition details: 

Suitable for Children: No
Wheelchair Access: Full
Car parking Available: No
Indoor/Outdoor: Indoor

Organiser Details website: www.bluemelon.com/alanmartin

Published in Dublin Port

#LectureTributeDrIreland - The final of the 1916 Easter Rising maritime themed lectures held to commemorate the centenary takes place next week in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.

The lecture programme with the support of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council culminates next Thursday, 9 June with the talk: Dr. John de Courcy Ireland - A tribute to a Maritime Historian. 

John Ellis who is to present the free lecture beginning at 7.30, was a pupil and close friend of Dr John de Courcy Ireland. Ellis will pay tribute to the noted maritime historian whose seminal work on the maritime aspects of the Easter Rising opened up this hitherto little researched field for future historians.

A special centenary version of Dr. Ireland's 'The Sea and the 1916 Easter Rising' is available to buy from stockists including the musuem's souvenir and gift shop.

The book when first published was commissioned by the state on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1966. Funding for that edition was provided by Irish Shipping Ltd. 

 

 

Published in Sailing Events

#1916maritime - The Winter lecture 2015/16 season of the Glenua Sailing Centre concludes with a lecture entitled: ‘Maritme Aspects of the 1916 Rising’ by Dr Edward Bourke.

The illustrated lectures will take place on Thursday 14 April (20:00hrs) at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the R.N.L.I.

Edward Bourke is an industrial microbiologist recently retired from brewery research. He is also maritime historian and has published five books on Irish shipwrecks as well as a history of Guinness. Currently he is working on the role of intelligence during the war of Independence in Ireland.

In his illustrated lecture, Edward will explore several maritime aspects of the 1916 events. Foremost among them being the role played by the Royal Navy in suppressing The Rising by strategic interventions.

He will assess the view that the impact of the Helga is greatly exaggerated on the basis that most of the shelling of Dublin was done by field artillery or whether the import of guns for the Volunteers in 1914 was carefully controlled by the British authorities. How plausible is the opinion that the navy had ample forewarning of the intentions of the Volunteers but allowed the 1916 Rising to proceed?

Edward will also discuss the significance of the 1916 rising in the wider context of the Great European War.

Published in Boating Fixtures

#1916Lectures – On this centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, a series of lectures themed on the lesser known maritime aspects of the rising continue to be held at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland.

The second of the seven free talks running to June, will be presented by Dr. John Treacy on the topic: The Silent Shore, The AUD, Roger Casement and Banna Strand.

The lecture takes place on Tuesday, 5 April (7.30 to 9:30 pm). The lecture will trace the story of the Aud from its departure from Lubeck to its scuttling off the Daunt Rock, plus the ill-fated landing of Roger Casement from U-19 on Banna Strand.

Dr. John Treacy has previously lectured extensively on the development of the modern Irish Naval Service.

The NMMI's commemoration of the Rising is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and the Ireland 1916 – 2016 Centenary Programme.

Also running at the museum is a specially produced 1916 Rising exhibition held in the former Mariners Church which houses the maritime museum.

Published in Ilen

#DoubleLecture - The Winter lecture 2015/16 season of the Glenua Sailing Centre continues with a double lecture programme at the March meeting entitled: ‘The Sea From Two Perspectives’.

The illustrated lectures will take place on Thursday 3 March (20:00hrs) at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the R.N.L.I

The first lecture, “Art and The Sea-An Enduring Fascination” will be given by Jessica O’Donnell who is Collections Curator at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. She is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the University of St Andrews. Her publications include Discover Art (shortlisted for CBI Children’s Book of the Year in 2008) and Harry Clarke The Eve of St Agnes (2012). She also enjoys sailing and is a member of Sailing in Dublin (SID) Club.

The talk will explore how artists have been captivated by the sea from many perspectives including how the Impressionists loved portraying people at leisure by the sea; how safeguarding the freedom of the seas was represented in artworks commissioned as war time propaganda; to contemporary artists whose fascination with the sea and marine life continues to inspire.

The second lecture is entitled, “Putting Eyes In The Deep Ocean” by Dr Fiona Grant, Ocean Science & Information Services (OSIS), Marine Institute, Ireland. Fiona began her studies in geology before going on to specialise in marine geophysics and earth system dynamics.

Her first job was as conservation coordinator for wild salmon and sea trout before taking responsibility for research infrastructures in the Marine Institute.

The talk will focus on some of the challenges in observing the deep ocean environment, how to harness ocean energy in Galway Bay and present some of the latest results from studies in the Atlantic Ocean

Published in Boating Fixtures

#1916Lectures – A series of 1916 Easter Rising themed lectures on the lesser known maritime aspects of the rising accompanied by a specially produced exhibition will be held in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland, Dun Laoghaire.

As its contribution to the 1916 commemorations, supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and the Ireland 1916 – 2016 Centenary Programme, the Maritime Institute of Ireland (founders of the NMMI) is presenting seven lectures at the museum venue located in the Old Mariners Church, which is only minutes away from the DART and off Dun Laoghaire’s main street.

1916 Exhibition: The exhibition will tell the story of the 1916 Rising from a maritime viewpoint and is to include a display of a gun from the Asgard and a map showing the Helga's movements in 1916.

1916 Lectures: The maritime dimension to the Easter Rising commenced in 1914 and two lectures will examine the role of the Asgard and the lesser known yacht Kelpie in running arms to the Irish Volunteers into Howth and Kilcoole.

The story of the Aud from its departure from Lubeck to its scuttling off the Daunt Rock, plus the ill-fated landing of Roger Casement from U-19 on Banna Strand and the shelling by the Dun Laoghaire based HMS Helga of Boland’s Mill and Liberty Hall during the Rising will be the focus of two further lectures.

The working conditions of Seamen and the prevailing social divisions between Kingston/Dun Laoghaire seafarers in 1916 will also be explored.

Concluding the series will be a tribute to the immense contribution of the noted historian Dr John de Courcy Ireland to the little known maritime history of the Rising when he first penned ‘The Sea and the Easter Rising 1916’.

The publication was timed for the 50th anniversary of this historic event which heralded the birth of the new Irish Nation.

Inaugural 1916 Lecture: ASGARD on the Road to the Rising and Beyond, will be held on 15th March (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

The presenter, Pat Murphy a well-known yachtsman who has broadcast extensively on RTE Radio One’s maritime programme ‘Seascapes’ explores the role of the Asgard in the run up to the Rising.

Below is a list of the following lectures

April

The Silent Shore, The AUD, Roger Casement and Banna Strand – 5th April (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

The AUD and the HELGA in the 1916 Rising – 26th April (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

May

Working Conditions of Seamen in 1916 – 12th May (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

Conor O'Brien, KELPIE and the 1914 Gun Running – 19th May (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

Kingstown: A Divided Seafaring Town – 26th May (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

June

Dr John de Courcy Ireland: A Tribute to a Maritime Historian – 9th June (7:30 pm - 9:30 pm)

Further information on opening exhibition times and updates are available from the NMMI website: www.mariner.ie 

To contact: Tel: (01) 214 3964 and by email: [email protected]

Published in Boating Fixtures

#Lecture - The Winter lecture season of the Glenua Sailing Centre continues with the February lecture, ‘George Forbes –Longford’s Forgotten Admiral’.

The illustrated lecture to be presented by Joe Varley next Thursday 4th February (20:00hrs) takes place at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the R.N.L.I.

Joe has a reputation for being an engaging and entertaining lecturer. With a passion for the sea from his seagoing experience as a radio officer and his time as a sailing instructor with Glenans, Joe is now active as a maritime researcher. In addition as a volunteer with the Maritime Institute of Ireland which has its premises at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.

His illustrated presentation on the colourful life and remarkable achievements of George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard, will reveal a neglected naval tradition in the quiet Longford village of Newtownforbes where Forbes was born in 1685.

Forbes was a Royal Navy commander, diplomat and politician who held posts of high distinction throughout Europe. He went to sea at a young age and was present at some of the most significant events of his age, including the Capture of Gibraltar in 1704. He acted as advisor for the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, in the foundation of the short-lived Austrian navy. Similarly, in 1734, while on a trade visit to Russia, he was invited to assist in the development of the Russian Navy. On his retirement from the Royal Navy, he returned to Newtownforbes where he lived until his death in 1785.

Published in Boating Fixtures

#Lecture - The Winter lecture 2015/16 season of the Glenua Sailing Centre continues with this year’s first lecture, ‘Solo from Brittany to Guadeloupe The Story of the Mini-Transat 2015’.

Tom Dolan will present an illustrated lecture on Thursday 21 January (20:00hrs) at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Ringsend, Dublin. There will be an entry fee of €5 in aid of the R.N.L.I.

So what a year 2015 has been for Tom! Just twelve months ago on a wet and windy Thursday night at the Ringsend venue, he gave a short presentation to Glenua members and friends on his bid to race alone in a 6.5m boat for 4,000 miles in the Mini Transat 2015 from Brittany to the Caribbean.

This race began on 19 September and Tom promised he would report back to Poolbeg in January 2016!

Tom’s rapid progression in the Glenans Irish Sailing School from volunteer to sailing instructor, to sailing centre manager in Ireland and France and his passion for the sea, earned him an enviable reputation in the sail training world. However, below the radar, so to speak, was an increasing engagement with the challenges of ocean racing. Apart from the expense of equipping his borrowed boat, he was on a steep race-training curve and very much “a rookie”!. However, after 3,000 miles training and racing, he qualified for the Transat and secured 10th in the rankings.

From then on, it was downwind all the way to Guadeloupe via Lanzarote in the fastest ever Transat.

After two and a half weeks alone at sea, the final result for Tom was 22nd out of 46 starting yachts, less than 20 minutes off the top twenty.

The story behind that fine achievement is what Tom will tell in next week’s presentation and which is to include a Q & A session.

Published in Boating Fixtures

#SeafarersCommemorations -The Maritime Institute of Ireland which organises the annual Dublin Ecumenical Memorial Commemoration Service for seamen lost at sea will be held this Sunday, 15th November.

A second service takes place in Cork the following weekend, see details below.

Dublin Services

The service this Sunday is take place at 12.30 in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, City Quay, Dublin 2 which is located close to both Pearse and Tara Street DART and suburban railway service stations.

The annual commemoration also involves tributes paid by organisations laying wreaths from both north and south of this island to all seafarers lost on Merchant ships during WW2. This takes place at the Irish Seaman’s National Memorial also located on City Quay.

Light refreshments will be available during this occasion. After a break for lunch the company will reassemble for Evensong at 3.15 held in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Cork Service

On the following weekend, the annual Cork Ecumenical Memorial Commemoration Service for seamen lost at sea will take place in the Board Room of the Port of Cork Company’s offices, Custom House Quay, Cork on Sunday, 29th November at 1200 noon.

The Martime Institute it should be noted also has the National Maritime Museum of Ireland on Haigh Terrace, Dun Laoghaire. For more details on museum times, what to see and events visit here.

Published in Boating Fixtures

#KishLight@50 – In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Kish Lighthouse off Dublin Bay, the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire is host to a lecture about what is one of Ireland’s most famous and unique lighthouses.

The impressive 12-storey structure of the lighthouse (towering 31 metres high when in situ) was constructed five decades ago in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Tugs brought out the 'floating' 7,000 tonnes lighthouse in the summer of 1965 to the the Kish Bank from where it was sunk into position on the sandbank. It was not until November 9th that year that the light was first exhibited having replaced a lightship.

To hear more on the details of how the lighthouse was built, a two-hour lecture takes place in the NMMI this Thursday, 12 November. The lecture “Kish Lighthouse –Before the Build” begins at 8pm and will be co-presented by Brian Kelly and Eoghan Lehane.

Tickets cost €10.00 and for more details including an exhibition held in the NMMI click here.

In addition the RTE Archives has a link, click here for the ‘Newsbeat’ programme from 1965 on the construction of the lighthouse.

Published in Lighthouses
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Irish Fishing industry 

The Irish Commercial Fishing Industry employs around 11,000 people in fishing, processing and ancillary services such as sales and marketing. The industry is worth about €1.22 billion annually to the Irish economy. Irish fisheries products are exported all over the world as far as Africa, Japan and China.

FAQs

Over 16,000 people are employed directly or indirectly around the coast, working on over 2,000 registered fishing vessels, in over 160 seafood processing businesses and in 278 aquaculture production units, according to the State's sea fisheries development body Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

All activities that are concerned with growing, catching, processing or transporting fish are part of the commercial fishing industry, the development of which is overseen by BIM. Recreational fishing, as in angling at sea or inland, is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The Irish fishing industry is valued at 1.22 billion euro in gross domestic product (GDP), according to 2019 figures issued by BIM. Only 179 of Ireland's 2,000 vessels are over 18 metres in length. Where does Irish commercially caught fish come from? Irish fish and shellfish is caught or cultivated within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Irish fishing grounds are part of the common EU "blue" pond. Commercial fishing is regulated under the terms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983 and with ten-yearly reviews.

The total value of seafood landed into Irish ports was 424 million euro in 2019, according to BIM. High value landings identified in 2019 were haddock, hake, monkfish and megrim. Irish vessels also land into foreign ports, while non-Irish vessels land into Irish ports, principally Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

There are a number of different methods for catching fish, with technological advances meaning skippers have detailed real time information at their disposal. Fisheries are classified as inshore, midwater, pelagic or deep water. Inshore targets species close to shore and in depths of up to 200 metres, and may include trawling and gillnetting and long-lining. Trawling is regarded as "active", while "passive" or less environmentally harmful fishing methods include use of gill nets, long lines, traps and pots. Pelagic fisheries focus on species which swim close to the surface and up to depths of 200 metres, including migratory mackerel, and tuna, and methods for catching include pair trawling, purse seining, trolling and longlining. Midwater fisheries target species at depths of around 200 metres, using trawling, longlining and jigging. Deepwater fisheries mainly use trawling for species which are found at depths of over 600 metres.

There are several segments for different catching methods in the registered Irish fleet – the largest segment being polyvalent or multi-purpose vessels using several types of gear which may be active and passive. The polyvalent segment ranges from small inshore vessels engaged in netting and potting to medium and larger vessels targeting whitefish, pelagic (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting) species and bivalve molluscs. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) pelagic segment is engaged mainly in fishing for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting only. The beam trawling segment focuses on flatfish such as sole and plaice. The aquaculture segment is exclusively for managing, developing and servicing fish farming areas and can collect spat from wild mussel stocks.

The top 20 species landed by value in 2019 were mackerel (78 million euro); Dublin Bay prawn (59 million euro); horse mackerel (17 million euro); monkfish (17 million euro); brown crab (16 million euro); hake (11 million euro); blue whiting (10 million euro); megrim (10 million euro); haddock (9 million euro); tuna (7 million euro); scallop (6 million euro); whelk (5 million euro); whiting (4 million euro); sprat (3 million euro); herring (3 million euro); lobster (2 million euro); turbot (2 million euro); cod (2 million euro); boarfish (2 million euro).

Ireland has approximately 220 million acres of marine territory, rich in marine biodiversity. A marine biodiversity scheme under Ireland's operational programme, which is co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Government, aims to reduce the impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment, including avoidance and reduction of unwanted catch.

EU fisheries ministers hold an annual pre-Christmas council in Brussels to decide on total allowable catches and quotas for the following year. This is based on advice from scientific bodies such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In Ireland's case, the State's Marine Institute publishes an annual "stock book" which provides the most up to date stock status and scientific advice on over 60 fish stocks exploited by the Irish fleet. Total allowable catches are supplemented by various technical measures to control effort, such as the size of net mesh for various species.

The west Cork harbour of Castletownbere is Ireland's biggest whitefish port. Killybegs, Co Donegal is the most important port for pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting) landings. Fish are also landed into Dingle, Co Kerry, Rossaveal, Co Galway, Howth, Co Dublin and Dunmore East, Co Waterford, Union Hall, Co Cork, Greencastle, Co Donegal, and Clogherhead, Co Louth. The busiest Northern Irish ports are Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel, Co Down.

Yes, EU quotas are allocated to other fleets within the Irish EEZ, and Ireland has long been a transhipment point for fish caught by the Spanish whitefish fleet in particular. Dingle, Co Kerry has seen an increase in foreign landings, as has Castletownbere. The west Cork port recorded foreign landings of 36 million euro or 48 per cent in 2019, and has long been nicknamed the "peseta" port, due to the presence of Spanish-owned transhipment plant, Eiranova, on Dinish island.

Most fish and shellfish caught or cultivated in Irish waters is for the export market, and this was hit hard from the early stages of this year's Covid-19 pandemic. The EU, Asia and Britain are the main export markets, while the middle Eastern market is also developing and the African market has seen a fall in value and volume, according to figures for 2019 issued by BIM.

Fish was once a penitential food, eaten for religious reasons every Friday. BIM has worked hard over several decades to develop its appeal. Ireland is not like Spain – our land is too good to transform us into a nation of fish eaters, but the obvious health benefits are seeing a growth in demand. Seafood retail sales rose by one per cent in 2019 to 300 million euro. Salmon and cod remain the most popular species, while BIM reports an increase in sales of haddock, trout and the pangasius or freshwater catfish which is cultivated primarily in Vietnam and Cambodia and imported by supermarkets here.

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983, pooled marine resources – with Ireland having some of the richest grounds and one of the largest sea areas at the time, but only receiving four per cent of allocated catch by a quota system. A system known as the "Hague Preferences" did recognise the need to safeguard the particular needs of regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related activities. The State's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork, works with the Naval Service on administering the EU CFP. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Department of Transport regulate licensing and training requirements, while the Marine Survey Office is responsible for the implementation of all national and international legislation in relation to safety of shipping and the prevention of pollution.

Yes, a range of certificates of competency are required for skippers and crew. Training is the remit of BIM, which runs two national fisheries colleges at Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork. There have been calls for the colleges to be incorporated into the third-level structure of education, with qualifications recognised as such.

Safety is always an issue, in spite of technological improvements, as fishing is a hazardous occupation and climate change is having its impact on the severity of storms at sea. Fishing skippers and crews are required to hold a number of certificates of competency, including safety and navigation, and wearing of personal flotation devices is a legal requirement. Accidents come under the remit of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, and the Health and Safety Authority. The MCIB does not find fault or blame, but will make recommendations to the Minister for Transport to avoid a recurrence of incidents.

Fish are part of a marine ecosystem and an integral part of the marine food web. Changing climate is having a negative impact on the health of the oceans, and there have been more frequent reports of warmer water species being caught further and further north in Irish waters.

Brexit, Covid 19, EU policies and safety – Britain is a key market for Irish seafood, and 38 per cent of the Irish catch is taken from the waters around its coast. Ireland's top two species – mackerel and prawns - are 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, dependent on British waters. Also, there are serious fears within the Irish industry about the impact of EU vessels, should they be expelled from British waters, opting to focus even more efforts on Ireland's rich marine resource. Covid-19 has forced closure of international seafood markets, with high value fish sold to restaurants taking a large hit. A temporary tie-up support scheme for whitefish vessels introduced for the summer of 2020 was condemned by industry organisations as "designed to fail".

Sources: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Marine Institute, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Department of Transport © Afloat 2020