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Displaying items by tag: H&W Support

A motion by Belfast City Council has been passed to call on the UK government to support Harland and Wolff as it faces administration.

As BBC News reports, the council is seeking an urgent meeting with the Northern Ireland secretary to discuss the future of the shipyard.

Harland and Wolff is at risk of closure after its parent company ran into severe financial problems.

It is understood the city shipyard could go into administration as early as Monday, putting 123 jobs at risk.

SDLP councillor Brian Heading said he would have a conference call with Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith on Saturday.

At Friday's emergency meeting of Belfast City Council there was cross-party support for the workers and their families, many of whom were seated in the public gallery.

For more on the week-long campaign by the shipyard workers click here

In addition click to view a webcast of the motion held in the city hall chamber. 

Published in Belfast Lough

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

RORC Points Calendar

The 2019 race was the first edition to form part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club “RORC” calendar for the season. This is in addition to the race continuing as part of the ISORA programme. 

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.