#COASTAL NOTES - The Norwegian people have “no idea of what’s being done in their name” at the Corrib Gas Field, a Scandinavian economist has told The Irish Times.

Bjørnar Nicolaisen was speaking on the role of Norwegian firm Statoil in the controversial project, following his visit with residents in North Mayo on the invitation of community mediation group Pobal Chill Chomáin.

The fisherman-turned-economist also echoed concerns regarding the impact on marine wildlife in the area by the seismic surveying currently being carried out on the gas field.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has lodged a complaint with the European Commission and the Department of Energy, indicating that the department could be in breach of the EU habitats directive for licensing the seismic survey without providing adequate protection for aquatic wildlife in an area that is part of Ireland's coast-wide whale and dolphin sanctuary.

Calls have also come for a safety review of the project's infrastructure after Ireland's biggest earthquake in years struck just 23km from the Corrib field earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Statoil spokesman Bård Glad Pedersen told The Irish Times that the company believes “it is possible to conduct seismic surveys and develop oil and gas projects while protecting fisheries”.

#BLUE FLAGS - Dollymount Strand has regained its Blue Flag status in this year's round of awards, which sees the largest ever number of Irish beaches and marinas recognised.

The beach on north Dublin's Bull Island - which recently hosted Ireland's top kitesurfers for the 'Battle For The Bay' - once again flies the Blue Flag after losing it last year.

Also among the Dublin beaches receiving the EU accolade this year are Donabate, its first award since 2007, and Skerries south, which had not held Blue Flag status since 1995.

The news follows just weeks after Northern Ireland celebrated its own record year with 11 resorts receiving the coveted prize.

A total of 87 beaches and marinas around Ireland's coastline were awarded Blue Flag status this year, with some notable exceptions from the list.

As The Irish Times reports, Rush South and Malahide beach failed to make the cut, while in Cork, Claycastle Beach and the front strand at Yougal lost their flags.

And Mullaghmore in Sligo - an area now world-famous for its top-class surfing - lost out due to safety issues involving roaming livestock.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#EARTHQUAKE - The North West region experienced its biggest ever earthquake this week in an event that poses “very interesting questions for geologists”.

The magnitude 4 quake on the morning of Wednesday 6 June, which was epicentred close to the Corrib Gas Field off the coast of Co Mayo, resulted in tremors felt from Sligo to Galway and numerous reports of houses shaking, as The Irish Times reports.

Minister for Energy and Natural Resouces Pat Rabbitte said all evidence pointed to the incident being a “naturally occurring earthquake” and emphasised there was “no link” to works on the Corrib field.

Experts from the British Geological Survey said it was "not a warning of anything bigger to come".

However, Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) said that the "moderate" quake was “significant” in that it challenged existing information about seismic activity in the region.

Shell EP Ireland said the seismic survey had not started and it had “no reason to believe that this event has had any impact on the sub-sea infrastructure”.

“However, as a precautionary measure, a visual inspection of the offshore infrastructure will be carried out in the coming days,” it said.

Ireland's biggest earthquake on record was in 1984, when a magnitude 5.4 quake struck off Wales, causing some structural damage along the east coast.

#FUN ON THE SHANNON – Today is the last day of the Foynes Irish Coffee Festival, where there is still plenty to do and see during this afternoon's line-up of the festival programme.

In port the public will be able to visit the Naval Service coastal patrol vessel L.E. Orla (P41) between 2–5pm.

Keeping to matters nautical, the Munster Mermaid Championships is been held in the Foynes Yacht Club which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion there will be a series of competitions and a fun day held on the water.

There is a Food and Irish Craft Fair, Pet Farm, a Ceile Mor, historical walks of the town and a McFaddens Carnival, for further details of times and locations see the events guide.

During the mid-afternoon there will be Irish Coffee making demonstrations in the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, where current Irish Coffee Making Champion Roisin Sweeney will be there.

In the evening the festival culminates when finalists will be competing for the Powers Irish Coffee Making Champion 2012. The event will also be held in the museum which features a replica of a flying boat that once served the mid-west hub airport.

#COASTAL NOTES - A 17th-century merchant vessel recently discovered off West Cork could have carried Ireland's first coconuts, the Irish Examiner reports.

The shipwreck near Schull was discovered embedded in silt 30ft below the surface by workers laying pipes for the town's new waste treatment plant.

A diving exclusion zone has since been established in the area to protect the site from looters and allow marine archaeologists to investigate the wreck undisturbed.

Coconuts found in the wreck indicate that the vessel was returning to Irish waters from the Caribbean.

Experts are hoping to establish the cause of the shipwreck, which may have been due to dashing against rocks in bad weather.

It is also speculated that the ship went down around the same time of the Sack of Baltimore in 1631, when North African pirates from the Barbary Coast attacked the area, kidnapping hundreds of locals.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

#COASTAL NOTES - A number of West Cork piers have been included in the current round of funding under the 2012 Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Capital Programme, according to the West Cork Times.

Keelbeg Pier at Union Hall will receive €48,750 for the next stage in the completion of new facilities for parking, access and storage.

Elsewhere, Pallas Pier at Ardgroom and Schull Pier will receive €35,250 for repairs to sheet piles after a condition survey for accelerated low water corrosion (ALWC), while also in Schull, Dooneen and Skeaghanore West piers will get €37,500 to pay for redecking and slipway repair.

The funding announcement comes some months after Cork's county mayor and council manager launched two major reports on Cork's coastal areas, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

It also follows the commitment last December by Marine Minister Simon Coveney, who is TD for Cork South-Central, to underline the importance of Ireland's coastal communities in the allocation of Government funding.

Thousands of coastal custodians around Ireland will be participating in the Clean Coasts Week (11-18th) which runs until next Friday.

The theme for the event is "Love Our Coast" which is to empower communities to participate in protecting and celebrating their local coastal environment along the spectacular coastline of Ireland.

The week forms part of An Taisce's Clean Coast Programme which is to emphasise the important role that we can all play, and are playing, in conserving our marine environment.

A list of the headline events in this third Clean Coast Week sponsored by Coca Cola can be viewed by visiting www.cleancoastsweek.ie

#COASTAL NOTES - The Belfast Telegraph reports that one Co Donegal seaside town is returning to its past in an effort to attract more visitors.

Buncrana is set to bring back the diving boards that once lined its shorefront some three decades after they were removed, in what the town's mayor says is a move to promote tourism as well as healthier outdoor activities among young people.

Mayor Nicholas Crossan commented to the Irish News: “I remember as a youngster we used to play football on the shorefront and then when the tide came in we’d be down to the diving boards and into the water to cool off. It was the greatest fun."

The Belfast Telegraph has a gallery of images of Buncrana and the Inishowen Peninsula in yesteryears HERE.

#WEYMOUTH – The UKHO in collaboration with Portland and Weymouth Harbour Authorities has produced a laminated Admiralty chartlet specifically for visitors to the Olympic sailing events 2012.

It shows all the official information needed by visitors to the area and the Paralympic games venue in Portland Harbour is also shown on a separate page within the folded A4 size special edition.

The product contains information of the event sailing areas, available anchorages and moorings, precautionary and approach areas, authority contact details, radio channels, event viewing areas, tidal predictions and more!

Although the chartlet should not be used for navigation, it is precisely based on all the same data that the UKHO is using to provide officials and safety authorities with during the events.

The chartlet is laminated to be water resistant but it will easily take pencil and ink markings.

This commemorative chartlet will be available through all good Admiralty Distributors nationally and from many local chandlers and retailers in the local Weymouth and Portland area at the recommended retail price of just £10.

#COASTAL NOTES - Bantry Bay has reached its capacity for salmon farming, says the committee formed to oppose a proposed new facility at Shot Head.

Save Bantry Bay has called a public meeting for supporters tonight (24 March) at Eccles Hotel in Glengarrif, Co Cork, starting at 8.15pm - where chairman Kieran O'Shea will give a presentation on the group's "wide-ranging objections", as The Fish Site reports.

Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney is currently considering the licence application for Marine Harvet's proposed salmon farm at Shot Head in Adrigole.

Concerns among the committee's members include the potential spoiling of the area's natural beauty having a knock-on effect on tourism, and the environmental consequences of algae blooms from nitrogen and phosphorous waste.

Local fisherman fear that a fish farm of more than 100 acres would see the closing off of part of an "important ground for shrimp and prawn".

Possible infection of wild salmon in local river systems by sea lice from farmed salmon is also an issue, with the Environmental Impact Statement for Shot Head highlighting an outbreak of lice at Marine Harvest's facility in Roancarrig two years ago.

The Fish Site has more on the story HERE.