Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

As a weekend of aquatic activity approaches, Water Safety Ireland, the Coast Guard and the RNLI have issued a joint appeal calling for caution at waterways nationwide. The appeal aims to reduce summer drownings and comes as figures released for…

Canoeists, kayakers and relevant organisations are again being encouraged by the Department of Transport to review Chapter 7 of the Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Recreational Craft. This chapter gives advice to canoeing and kayaking enthusiasts on actions to…

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is now recruiting qualified lifeguards for its beaches for the 2022 summer season. The DLRCoCo website lists qualifications and details for the role, which pays a wage of €12.18 per hour (plus appropriate differentials) for a Junior Lifeguard…

The Department of Transport has issued a reminder to all masters, owners and users of pleasure and recreational craft of the existence of the Code of Practice for the Safe Operation of Recreational Craft. As previously highlighted on Afloat.ie, the…

As the June bank holiday approaches, the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland have issued another joint water safety appeal — this time for the many thousands of people expected to take advantage of the break this weekend…

Dublin Port Company (DPC) has today launched a new water safety awareness campaign, bringing comedy stars Darren Conway and Joe McGucken aboard to help spread the important message. The campaign is being launched ahead of the bank holiday to help…

Calls have been made for greater public awareness over the risks of incoming tides after three people were rescued off Sandymount earlier this week. A multi-agency response involving Dun Laoghaire RNLI and the Irish Coast Guard’s Dublin-based helicopter Rescue 116…

In the lead up to the Easter bank holiday weekend, the Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland have issued a joint water safety appeal and are asking people to take some basic precautions to stay safe when they visit…

The RNLI has revealed lifeguard statistics from 2021 which show more people than ever visited a lifeguarded beach in Northern Ireland and needed the help of the charity’s lifesavers. During the season, lifeguard teams located on 11 beaches along the…

The Chief Executive of Water Safety Ireland, the State organisation headquartered in Galway, has retired. John Leech had been CEO for 21 years. “When I joined the organisation the 10-year annual average of fatal drownings was 185, today it is…

With both Met Éireann and the UK’s Met Office predicting disruptive weather this week due to back-to-back storms, the RNLI has urged the public to be careful at the coast. The charity that saves lives at sea is encouraging people…

The RNLI has launched its search for budding new lifeguards to start their career on some of Northern Ireland’s most popular beaches, as applications open for 2022. Recruitment for this season’s team of RNLI beach lifesavers on the Causeway Coast…

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today appointed Clare McGrath as the new Chair of Water Safety Ireland (WSI), which works to prevent drownings. Ms McGrath has been a lifelong advocate for drowning prevention and…

Twenty-four lives were saved from drowning by rescuers who were recognised at Water Safety Ireland’s online National Annual Awards Ceremony on Tuesday. Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD presented the ‘Seiko Just in Time Rescue Award’ to…

Last year Mike Meharg, George King and Allan Black set up Safer Waters, now a registered charity and not-for-profit provider of voluntary safety cover and training for recreational water users in Northern Ireland. It is a recognised RYA Training Centre…

Irish people are more likely to take water safety seriously if it doesn’t involve obeying a law. As The Sunday Independent reports, almost two decades after wearing a lifejacket first became compulsory in Ireland, legislation has proved so unenforceable that…