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Displaying items by tag: World Pairs Angling Championship

#Angling - 2016’s runners-up Michael Buchwalder and Rod Scott scooped the €10,000 prize and the prestigious title at the Lakelands & Inland Waterways World Pairs Angling Championships

They were among 55 angling pairs competing in the cross-border event staged on inland waterways over the counties Leitrim, Fermanagh and Cavan from 4-8 September, showcasing some of the best wild fishing Ireland has to offer.

The increased number of participants from Europe — with anglers from Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, USA, UK and Ireland — enjoyed a week full of hybrids, perch, roach and bream in Ireland’s north west.

Irish festival regulars Michael and Rod, having moved into the lead on day two, held their position all week as they showed their world-class fishing skills.

Rod, who was introduced to Irish match fishing at an early age by his father Mal, who created a series of popular festivals in Northern Ireland, said there are just two matches for him: the Waterways Classic and the World Pairs.

He added that it was “the best feeling ever” to have won the latter. He complimented his partner Michael, as he described how it’s all the duo talk about, and they were “over the moon” to have won the title having come so close last year.

Elsewhere in the competition, consistent fishing throughout the week from Dean Barlow, and then a top match weight of 29.500kg of bream and skimmers on the feeder from Steve Fleming, saw the Drennan-backed duo move into the top ten on day four. They held on to finish as runners-up, taking home the €5,000 prize.

German regulars Thorsten Beil and Rudiger Hansen finished in third place and collected €2,500 in a sensational conclusion to the competition.

Fishing for a prize pot of €20,650, the annual competition is played out in the Lakelands region in a selected one-hour zone from Killadeas to the north onLower Lough Erne, following through to Lough Scur on the Shannon-Erne Waterway in Leitrim in the south.

The five-day event, which sees anglers fish a different venue every day, has renewed interest in the natural fishing available in Ireland by showcasing the challenging angling available among fabulous scenery.

This has contributed to a reported increase in the numbers on the Irish match scene, through a massive social media following in Europe.

This is wild angling, and in order to reach the best that Cavan, Leitrim and Fermanagh have to offer, transport is provided to bring anglers to their pegs over rough terrain, or on boats seeking island stretches in the mighty loughs.

Running the event across the border is an important feature of the competition for title sponsors Lakelands & Inland Waterways, the tourism brand owned by Féilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland.

While the event attracts the world’s elite pole and feeder anglers fishing in pairs, it’s also a match for anglers of all abilities thanks to the inclusion of the Daiwa Cup and £10,000 sponsorship in tackle and vouchers from Daiwa Sports UK.

This year’s holder of the Daiwa Cup is Michael Buchwalder, with a solo weight of 73.060kg over the five days. Michael takes home the prestigious Daiwa Cup along with £1,000 prize money and a tackle voucher to the value of £1,500.

To ensure everyone gets a look-in, a tackle voucher prize of €300 was awarded to those with the best weight by rotation, but who had not made the top ten of the Daiwa Cup. This helps to gives a good share of winnings all round.

Staff from Daera Inland Fisheries Group provided on-the-ground support throughout the competition, with Inland Fisheries Ireland assisting with the draws to help run the event at a high level of professionalism. This ensures that everything runs smoothly for the visiting angler.

The event this year shared a buzz across the counties, with the opening taking place in Drumcoura City, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, and closing at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Ennsikillen, Co Fermanagh.

The organisers thank all who took park, the fisheries for their services throughout the week, Ballinamore Tourism Group who provided stewarding services on the Leitrim venues, Leitrim Council and Fermanagh & Omagh District Council for their sponsorship, and all the landowners who kindly give access to the water with support of the boat, tractor and quad drivers.

Next year’s World Pairs Angling Championship will take place from Monday 3 to Friday 7 September 2018.

World Pairs Result

1: Michael Buchwalder and Rod Scott, 142.900 kg

2: Steve Fleming and Dean Barlow 114.200 kg

3: Thorsten Beil and Rudiger Hansen, 104.825 kg

4: Steve Ringer and Phil Ringer, 103.425 kg

5: Adam Wakelin and Felix Scheuermann, 102.840 kg

6: Rob Wootton and Lee Kerry, 101.090 kg

7: Hadrian Whittle and Martin Greene, 99.255 kg

8: Will Freeman and Andy Leathers, 98.650 kg

9: Mark Pollard and Derek Willan, 96.975 kg

10: Jamie Harrison and Richie Hull, 96.870 kg

Daiwa Cup Individual Results

1: Michael Buchwalder, 73.060 kg

2: Rod Scott, 69.840 kg

3: Jamie Harrison, 67.320 kg

4: Steve Ringer, 64.000 kg

5: Dean Barlow, 59.690 kg

6: Hadrian Whittle, 59.320 kg

7: Rob Wootton, 58.990 kg

8: Tom Sexton, 56.520 kg

9: Will Freeman, 54.800 kg

10: Stephen McCaveny, 54.680 kg

Rotation Winners:

1: Steve Fleming, 54.510 kg

2: Felix Scheuermann, 51.940 kg

3: Lee Giles, 49.700 kg

4: Steve Wheeldon, 43.950 kg

5: Thorsten Beil, 54.270 kg

Published in Angling

#ANGLING - The cross-border team of Phil Jackson and Cathal Hughes took the top prize at the Lakelands & Inland Waterways World Pairs Angling Championship earlier this month, as The Irish Times reports.

The pair - from Craigavon and Galway respectively - received a cheque for more than €37,000 and a set of Daiwa tackle for their efforts in snagging a total catch of 117.560kg over the five days of fishing across the lakes and waterways of Monaghan, Leitrim. Cavan and Fermanagh - described as the world's richest coarse angling competition.

Close behind in the winners' table were the team of Derek Willan and Mark Pollard, whose 112.990kg total earned them second place and a cheque for more than €12,500.

"The fishing that has taken place over the last five days will be a significant turning point in how angling in Ireland is viewed all over the world," said Fáilte Ireland's Colm Breheny at the conclusion of the contest.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

Ireland's offshore islands

Around 30 of Ireland's offshore islands are inhabited and hold a wealth of cultural heritage.

A central Government objective is to ensure that sustainable vibrant communities continue to live on the islands.

Irish offshore islands FAQs

Technically, it is Ireland itself, as the third largest island in Europe.

Ireland is surrounded by approximately 80 islands of significant size, of which only about 20 are inhabited.

Achill island is the largest of the Irish isles with a coastline of almost 80 miles and has a population of 2,569.

The smallest inhabited offshore island is Inishfree, off Donegal.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Starting with west Cork, and giving voting register numbers as of 2020, here you go - Bere island (177), Cape Clear island (131),Dursey island (6), Hare island (29), Whiddy island (26), Long island, Schull (16), Sherkin island (95). The Galway islands are Inis Mór (675), Inis Meáin (148), Inis Oírr (210), Inishbofin (183). The Donegal islands are Arranmore (513), Gola (30), Inishboffin (63), Inishfree (4), Tory (140). The Mayo islands, apart from Achill which is connected by a bridge, are Clare island (116), Inishbiggle (25) and Inishturk (52).

No, the Gaeltacht islands are the Donegal islands, three of the four Galway islands (Inishbofin, like Clifden, is English-speaking primarily), and Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire in west Cork.

Lack of a pier was one of the main factors in the evacuation of a number of islands, the best known being the Blasket islands off Kerry, which were evacuated in November 1953. There are now three cottages available to rent on the Great Blasket island.

In the early 20th century, scholars visited the Great Blasket to learn Irish and to collect folklore and they encouraged the islanders to record their life stories in their native tongue. The three best known island books are An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers, and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. Former taoiseach Charles J Haughey also kept a residence on his island, Inishvickillaune, which is one of the smaller and less accessible Blasket islands.

Charles J Haughey, as above, or late Beatle musician, John Lennon. Lennon bought Dorinish island in Clew Bay, south Mayo, in 1967 for a reported £1,700 sterling. Vendor was Westport Harbour Board which had used it for marine pilots. Lennon reportedly planned to spend his retirement there, and The Guardian newspaper quoted local estate agent Andrew Crowley as saying he was "besotted with the place by all accounts". He did lodge a planning application for a house, but never built on the 19 acres. He offered it to Sid Rawle, founder of the Digger Action Movement and known as the "King of the Hippies". Rawle and 30 others lived there until 1972 when their tents were burned by an oil lamp. Lennon and Yoko Ono visited it once more before his death in 1980. Ono sold the island for £30,000 in 1984, and it is widely reported that she donated the proceeds of the sale to an Irish orphanage

 

Yes, Rathlin island, off Co Antrim's Causeway Coast, is Ireland's most northerly inhabited island. As a special area of conservation, it is home to tens of thousands of sea birds, including puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots. It is known for its Rathlin golden hare. It is almost famous for the fact that Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, retreated after being defeated by the English at Perth and hid in a sea cave where he was so inspired by a spider's tenacity that he returned to defeat his enemy.

No. The Aran islands have a regular ferry and plane service, with ferries from Ros-a-Mhíl, south Connemara all year round and from Doolin, Co Clare in the tourist season. The plane service flies from Indreabhán to all three islands. Inishbofin is connected by ferry from Cleggan, Co Galway, while Clare island and Inishturk are connected from Roonagh pier, outside Louisburgh. The Donegal islands of Arranmore and Tory island also have ferry services, as has Bere island, Cape Clear and Sherkin off Cork. How are the island transport services financed? The Government subsidises transport services to and from the islands. The Irish Coast Guard carries out medical evacuations, as to the RNLI lifeboats. Former Fianna Fáíl minister Éamon Ó Cuív is widely credited with improving transport services to and from offshore islands, earning his department the nickname "Craggy island".

Craggy Island is an bleak, isolated community located of the west coast, inhabited by Irish, a Chinese community and one Maori. Three priests and housekeeper Mrs Doyle live in a parochial house There is a pub, a very small golf course, a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a Chinatown... Actually, that is all fiction. Craggy island is a figment of the imagination of the Father Ted series writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, for the highly successful Channel 4 television series, and the Georgian style parochial house on the "island" is actually Glenquin House in Co Clare.

Yes, that is of the Plassey, a freighter which was washed up on Inis Oírr in bad weather in 1960.

There are some small privately owned islands,and islands like Inishlyre in Co Mayo with only a small number of residents providing their own transport. Several Connemara islands such as Turbot and Inishturk South have a growing summer population, with some residents extending their stay during Covid-19. Turbot island off Eyrephort is one such example – the island, which was first spotted by Alcock and Brown as they approached Ireland during their epic transatlantic flight in 1919, was evacuated in 1978, four years after three of its fishermen drowned on the way home from watching an All Ireland final in Clifden. However, it is slowly being repopulated

Responsibility for the islands was taking over by the Department of Rural and Community Development . It was previously with the Gaeltacht section in the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

It is a periodic bone of contention, as Ireland does not have the same approach to its islands as Norway, which believes in right of access. However, many improvements were made during Fianna Fáíl Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív's time as minister. The Irish Island Federation, Comdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, represents island issues at national and international level.

The 12 offshore islands with registered voters have long argued that having to cast their vote early puts them at a disadvantage – especially as improved transport links mean that ballot boxes can be transported to the mainland in most weather conditions, bar the winter months. Legislation allowing them to vote on the same day as the rest of the State wasn't passed in time for the February 2020 general election.

Yes, but check tide tables ! Omey island off north Connemara is accessible at low tide and also runs a summer race meeting on the strand. In Sligo, 14 pillars mark the way to Coney island – one of several islands bearing this name off the Irish coast.

Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire is the country's most southerly inhabited island, eight miles off the west Cork coast, and within sight of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, also known as the "teardrop of Ireland".
Skellig Michael off the Kerry coast, which has a monastic site dating from the 6th century. It is accessible by boat – prebooking essential – from Portmagee, Co Kerry. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was not open to visitors in 2020.
All islands have bird life, but puffins and gannets and kittiwakes are synonymous with Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. Rathlin island off Antrim and Cape Clear off west Cork have bird observatories. The Saltee islands off the Wexford coast are privately owned by the O'Neill family, but day visitors are permitted access to the Great Saltee during certain hours. The Saltees have gannets, gulls, puffins and Manx shearwaters.
Vikings used Dublin as a European slaving capital, and one of their bases was on Dalkey island, which can be viewed from Killiney's Vico road. Boat trips available from Coliemore harbour in Dalkey. Birdwatch Ireland has set up nestboxes here for roseate terns. Keep an eye out also for feral goats.
Plenty! There are regular boat trips in summer to Inchagoill island on Lough Corrib, while the best known Irish inshore island might be the lake isle of Innisfree on Sligo's Lough Gill, immortalised by WB Yeats in his poem of the same name. Roscommon's Lough Key has several islands, the most prominent being the privately-owned Castle Island. Trinity island is more accessible to the public - it was once occupied by Cistercian monks from Boyle Abbey.

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