Displaying items by tag: Trigger Art 16

4th November 2021

Taoiseach Warns Move to trigger NI Protocol Article 16 Would be ‘Irresponsible’ & ‘Reckless’

Above a ferry at the Port of Larne which connects Cairnryan, Scotland where the Taoiseach Micheál Martin attended the COP26 summit on the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow this week.

The Taoiseach Micheal Martin has warned the British Government that any move to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol would be “irresponsible...unwise” and “reckless”.

As the Belfst Telegraph writes, the Irish premier told the Dail on Wednesday such a decision would have “far reaching implications” for the relationship between Dublin and London.

London and Brussels are currently locked in negotiations to try to redraw aspects of the protocol and cut some of the red tape it has created on Irish Sea trade.

Last week it was revealed discussions are taking place in a UK cabinet committee about the potential fallout for triggering Article 16 of the protocol as soon as next month.

“We have acted in good faith, I think the European Commission has acted in good faith, and a good faith response is required from the United Kingdom government,” Mr Martin said.

“In my view it would be irresponsible, it would be unwise, and it would be reckless to invoke Article 16 as a response to the proposals from the European Commission.

More here on this latest development.

Published in Ferry

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Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.