How a wise kayaker rescued by east Cork’s Ballycotton lifeboat signed up as a volunteer and Galway city’s cross-agency rapid rescue system are among topics on RTÉ Radio 1’s special Seascapes series tonight.

The final episode of the three-part series marking the RNLI’s bicentenary also hears about a Meath man’s very clear memory of his rescue by the Clogherhead lifeboat almost 63 years ago.

Síle Scanlon had been kayaking with three friends off Ballycotton on the east Cork coast when the weather turned.

Wisely, she and her friends raised the alarm and were rescued by the Ballycotton lifeboat, where her mother, Máire Scanlon, had been deputy mechanic and is now deputy launching authority.

Síle signed up as a volunteer and she spoke to Seascapes about her experience so far – including ditching her high heels to respond to her pager on a graduation night. She also recalls her family’s distinguished links with the RNLI.

Sile Scanlon of RNLI's Ballycotton station

Also on the programme, Meath man Lar Sheeran is interviewed about his harrowing experience when he was just 18 years old and out sea angling with his cousins John and Vincent off the Louth coast in August 1961.

The trio were caught in bad weather, they had no means of communication, but the alarm was raised and Clogherhead lifeboat tasked when they didn’t arrive back that evening.

One of the more difficult parts of being an RNLI volunteer is searching for a missing person.

Galway RNLI lifeboat operations manager Mike Swan talks about the rapid rescue system developed in the city, located on one of the fastest flowing rivers of its length in Europe and with a canal network.

The Seascapes RNLI special is presented by Lorna Siggins, produced by Brian Lally, and is on RTÉ Radio 1 and the RTE Radio App tonight (March 29) at 10.30pm.

It is also available to listen back to on the RTÉ Player, and the previous two episodes - including RNLI Aran station’s O’Connell family in part one, and an RNLI Red Bay training exercise, along with sea shanties, in part two - can be heard HERE.

A man overboard exercise with Antrim’s Red Bay all-weather lifeboat and the experience of a dog walker rescued by Cork Harbour’s Crosshaven lifeboat are among topics on tonight’s (Fri, March 22) RTÉ Radio 1 special issue of Seascapes.

The programme, which is the second in a three-part series marking the bicentenary of the RNLI, will also hear how sea shanties have become “cool”, thanks to Tik Tok and Covid-19.

Singer Hugh O’Neill of the Buoys of Ballisodare explains how the annual Wild Atlantic Shanty Festival in Rosses Point came about and how it raises funds for the Sligo lifeboat.

The RNLI’s Red Bay station serves the beautiful but often treacherous north-east coast, extending sometimes to Scotland, and it has both an all-weather and inshore craft.

Crew at the RNLI’s Red Bay station in Cushendall, County Antrim Photo: Niamh Stephenson

Programme presenter Lorna Siggins joined McLaughlin and lifeboat operations manager Kevin Allen, mechanic Liam O’Brien, navigator Sinéad Sharpe and crew Stephen Conway, Paddy O’Hagan, Gareth McAllister and RNLI press officer Niamh Stephenson on a training exercise in Red Bay last Sunday.

The Red Bay RNLI lifeboats at Cushendall Photo: Niamh Stephenson

The station recently lost one of its most experienced members, coxswain Gary Fyfe. His colleague and RNLI trustee, Paddy McLaughlin, talks on tonight’s episode about Fyfe’s enormous contribution to the Cushendall community.

Laura O’Mahony is also interviewed about her experience 14 years ago, when she and her red setter Sam were rescued by the Crosshaven lifeboat.

Seascapes, produced by Brian Lally with sound by John Doyle, is on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday night at 10.30pm, and on the RTE Radio 1 App and the RTÉ Player.

An Aran island family with several generations of volunteering with the RNLI lifeboat are featured in the first episode of a special series of RTÉ Radio 1’s Seascapes to mark the RNLI’s bicentenary.

The three-part series also carries an interview tonight with maritime historian Cormac Lowth, and with artist David Rooney who designed two new stamps to celebrate the RNLI.

Daniel O’Connell, who first signed up as a volunteer with the Aran offshore station ten years ago, explains that he took the decision after his eldest son, Jack, was rushed to hospital with several tonsillitis.

Jack and his siblings Olive and Eoghan are also interviewed about their experience, along with their mother Lena, who is press officer, their grandmother Margaret, who has been station treasurer, and newly appointed Aran coxswain Aonghus Ó hÍarnáin.

Cormac Lowth, dubbed a “one man maritime museum” by Afloat.ie’s WM Nixon, summarises the history of the lifeboat service in Ireland, while artist and musician David Rooney talks about what inspired him to design the new stamps for the RNLI which were issued earlier this month by An Post.

Seascapes, to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, is presented by Lorna Siggins and produced by Brian Lally. Part one of the three-part special series will be broadcast on Friday night, March 15th, at 10.30 pm on RTÉ Radio 1 and the RTE Radio App, and will be available on the RTÉ Player.

#INSS - On the latest episode of RTÉ Radio 1’s Seascapes, Fergal Keane chats with Alistair Rumball, who is celebrating 40 years of his Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Some 3,000 youngsters are expected to have passed through the INSS over this summer’s courses come September — a testament to the hard work Rumball and his family have put into the business since he filled the breach after the collapse of the old Dun Laoghaire Sailing School in 1978.

The INSS has seen some choppy waters over the decades, particularly during the recession period from 2010 when the phones stopped ringing and bookings dried up entirely for a time.

But the Rumballs were savvy enough to have put aside a ‘war chest’ to weather the storm, and redoubled their efforts to encourage children back onto the water by diversifying their offerings and creating their own demand, as Alistair puts it.

More lately, the INSS has branched out into certification for older sailors looking to make the most of their yachts — and then there’s Alistair's involvement in providing replica historical vessels for film and TV productions such as the hit series Vikings.

Listen to the full interview on the RTÉ website HERE.

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes, tonight we hear about the commemoration of the United States Navy in Cobh one hundred years ago we’ll be talking to Commander Taussig’s great grand daughter Elizabeth Helmer, also from the recent Shore Shorts festival in Sligo Lucia Griggi; Finn Ni Faoileain and Ben Selway; Gerry Culloty brings us the story from the Royal Canal of the the loss of a passenger vessel The Longford in November of 1845 at McGoverns Rocks between Porterstown and Clonsilla which inspired a piece of his music .....and we were on the Old Head of Kinsale at the signal tower for the opening of the Lusitania Memorial Gardens which we’ll be featuring in the coming weeks ... first this week on Seascapes to Cobh and the ceremony held last week to mark the centenary of the arrival of the United States Navy in Queenstown supported by The Port of Cork and Cork County Council titled “We Are Ready Now” with a series of events taking place throughout this year , Seascapes met the great grand daughter of Commander Taussig of the SS Wandsworth – Elizabeth Helmer is studying in University College Cork........

In the magnificent Victorian gardens in the grounds of the Benedictine Convent in Cobh Seascapes talked to Dermot O’ Mahony, formerly of the Port of Cork who had a close connection with the morning’s proceedings

Next to Aghada and to Willie Cunningham of Cork Harbour Heritage Alliance – Noel Sweeney met up with Willie last week

Willie Cunningham from Cork Harbour Heritage Alliance speaking with Noel Sweeney for Seascapes ...
During the two years after the arrival of the U.S. Navy in Ireland, many young Irish women met and married American sailors.
But, American service mens interest in Irish women would cause controversy, leading to violent attacks by locals and condemnation from the church.
Archaeologist and historian Damien Shiels has been studying the lives of 99 Irish women who married American sailors, most of them from Cork, ahead of the centenary commemorations.
His research has resulted in the exhibition Portraits: Women of Cork and the U.S. Navy 1917-19, which runs at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh until September.
Damian spoke to Justin Maher about the backgrounds of the women who are featured in the exhibition and the contrasting attitudes towards them on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

We’ll have a full programme marking the opening of the Lusitania Memorial Garden here on Seascapes on Friday 2nd June ....in the meantime here’s Minister Simon Coveney TD who unveiled the Lusitania Memorial Sculpture – The Wave designed by Liam Lavery and Eithne Ring which was cast in Normandy in France...
Minister Coveney......

As I mentioned earlier we’ll be featuring the ceremony at the Lusitania Memorial Gardens on Seascapes on Friday 2nd June ....
Next here on Seascapes to the Royal Canal and a location called McGovern’s Rocks between Porterstown and Clonsilla, regular Seascapes listener and musician Gerry Culloty brings us the story of the loss of a passenger vessel The Longford in November of 1845

Gerry Culloty on the loss of The Longford on The Royal Canal in 1845......

The recent Shore Shots Festival held in Sligo which we featured last week .........was attended for Seascapes by Ron Coveney and Justin Maher, First we hear from Ben Selway .........Ben is the former photo editor of Wavelength Magazine and gave a fireside chat at the festival talking about his career. Ben recalled experiences he's had photographing surfers around the world.

Ben Selway speaking to Justin Maher at Shore Shots , next to Finn ní Fhaolain- Author of “Finns World “ and a keen surfer.....Finns background is in marine science, she spoke to Ron Coveney for Seascapes ...

Just to let you know that I’m set to retire on the 16th June, Seascapes will continue and my successor at the helm will be RTE Correspondent – Fergal Keane who is a keen angler and yachtsman....fair winds.....

A Norwegian billionaire has promised to give "the lion's share" of his money away. Kjell Inge Roekke, a former fisherman who made his fortune in the oil industry, will begin by funding a research ship that will remove plastic from the ocean, and will operate in partnership with the environmental organisation WWF. Mr Roekke has an estimated wealth of $2bn (£1.6bn).
"I want to give back to society the bulk of what I've earned," he said in an interview with the Aftenposten newspaper. "This ship is a part of that." The research vessel will have a crew of 30, with space for up to 60 scientific staff and some laboratories. It will remove from the water and melt up to five tons of plastic a day...according to Aftenposten.....

Well that’s about it for this week here on Seascapes , next Friday night we bring you author , poet and playwright Dermot Bolger on his novel “The Lonely Sea and The Sky” originally broadcast last Summer when I spoke to Dermot at his home in Drumcondra about his late father, his interest in the sea and what inspired his interest in the story of the MV Kerlogue......Thats “The Lonely Sea and the Sky and distinguished author Dermot Bolger next Friday night , until then tight lines and fair sailing.”

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes this week writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram on the Free French in Greenock in Scotland and hear from an eye witness to events seventy seven years ago author and maritime enthusiast Pat Sweeney who was attending school in Greenock ; we hear from Jack O’Leary, maritime historian whom we met on our recent visit to Wexford ............this weekend sees the start of of Shine A Light on Summer featuring many of the lighthouses around our coastline..... first this week we speak to Ethna Murphy - Brand Development Manager with Great Lighthouses of Ireland we first looked at two of the more famous lighthouses......and discussed the new season ahead.....

Ethna Murphy, Brand Development Manager, Great Lighthouses of Ireland ..........speaking of Lighthouses next Friday night on Seascapes we hear from Ballycotton Island Lighthouse where Justin Maher talked to Eddie Fitzgerald who was a Supernumerary Assistant Keeper with Irish Lights during the sixties.........in Ballycotton at the moment you can see offshore of the island a large group of visiting basking sharks......

Well from the Lighthouses to Rosslare and maritime historian Jack O’ Leary whom we met recently on our visit to Wexford we talked outside the Rosslare Maritime Heritage Centre about the great schooners and the seafaring traditions of the South East.....

Jack O’Leary, maritime historian whom we met on our recent visit to Wexford......

There are 133 drownings in Ireland every year - that's more than five per fortnight. As we approach the May Bank Holiday weekend, visitors to coastlines and inland waterways should be mindful of the dangers of cold shock, hypothermia and drowning.

On Bank holiday weekends, people can become complacent and put themselves and their families in dangerous situations in aquatic environments. People have a responsibility to themselves and family to stay safe around water by knowing the dangers and learning from the situations that have led to tragic drownings in the past.

Next this week on your maritime programme to Scotland and the Free French in Greenock , writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram has this story....

Writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram on the Free French at Greeenock , and whose latest book is “On Our Way” ............... we had a note from a great friend of the programme Pat Sweeney who has written –

“ Your correspondent might not be aware of the role of the town of Greenock in French naval history, earlier in the war, which I saw on 30th April 1940 before the fall of France 77 years ago next Sunday. I was born in Greenock in 1928.

There was a French destroyer the MAILLE BREZE at anchor. While cleaning her port side torpedo tubes, an armed torpedo was fired blowing a hole in the port side of the hull.

A number of sailors were trapped in the fore part of the ship and could not be rescued. Boats from other warships including the battleship HMS WARSPITE and the Aircraft Carrier HMS FURIOUS came alongside and medical teams gave pain relieving injections to the trapped men.

All this time I was in a singing class in the local convent school counting the 28 blasts. An older girl was sent out to find out what happened, she returned with the news that a ship had blown up in the Clyde. I was sent home running and I found the big block of flats right on the seafront, where we lived, had every pane of glass blown out.
Luckily my mother was in the back of the flat.

Eventually the MAILLE BREZE was scuttled to stop further explosions damaging other ships in the anchorage. In all 24 sailors were killed. The wreck remained there until the 1950s, before being salvaged.
Myself and mother were evacuated to Dublin the summer of 1941 as my father thought there would be more air attacks, which did not happen as Hitler turned his attention to Russia. My father, a teacher, stayed on and managed to get over to Dublin during the war. Hope this is of assistance......Regards
Pat Sweeney. “

Many thanks indeed Pat .......

Next to Justin Maher who was in Sligo at the Shore Shots Festival last weekend, we’ll have a full report here on Seascapes next Friday night from Justin and Ron Coveney who attended for the the programme , Justin talked to organizer Alan Mulrooney about this years event......

That’s about it for this week, on the sound desk this week Bryan Fitzpatrick, next week here on Seascapes we bring you a full report on the Shore Shots Festival held in Sligo last weekend where Justin Maher and Ron Coveney travelled for Seascapes and met Finn O’ Faoileain; pioneering Irish surfer Kevin Cavey; Ricky Martin from Coleraine of Skunkworks Surfboards; Noel Sweeney meets actor and drama therapist Mike O Mahony on Banna Strand where he finds great peace and tranquillity and Justin Maher meets Ben Selway and Andrew Cotton at Shore Shots in Sligo, all that and much more , until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing. “

Marcus Connaughton is set to retire from RTE and present his final edition of the maritime programme Seascapes on RTE Radio 1 on Bloomsday - Friday 16th June on the eve of his 65th birthday.
Marcus is a veteran of the Irish record industry, prior to working within the organisation. He has produced and presented a wide range of programming since he joined the national broadcaster in the Summer of 1988.

Based in Cork at RTE's Studios in the city since 1994 he has produced Seascapes since 2002 and has presented and produced the programme for the past eight years.

He is the author of "Rory Gallagher -His Life and Times" published by The Collins Press and "Sailing By" Celebrating 25 Years of Seascapes published by The Liffey Press.

Taking the helm from Marcus on the maritime programme on RTE Radio 1 commencing Friday 23rd June will be RTE Correspondent Fergal Keane, a keen sailor and angler.

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes, later this evening we’ll hear from Fergal Keane who attended the recent Angling Show at the National Show Centre in North County Dublin;  we’ll hear from writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram on the loss off Liverpool in 1939 of the submarine “Thetis”; Transition Year students in Rosbercon in Wexford are campaigning for a focus on Water Safety with their entry “Water Wise in the Young Social Innovators project .....

First on Seascapes to a mariner and maritime enthusiast Hugh Loane....... Hugh was born in the early nineteen twenties and grew up in Cobh , descended from a long line of seafarers with family connections to harbour pilots, ship's chandlers and lighthouses. Hugh made the trip to Liverpool on the schooner the Mary B Mitchell in 1939 when he was just 16 and heard news of the outbreak of the second world war on the return journey. The stories he tells Seascapes are from his younger days when he spent all his free time at the harbour in Cobh, as he says messing about in boats, crewing for yachtsmen, racing and learning from his uncle Ruby who was a Grand Old Master of Cork harbour..........Indeed Hugh witnessed the loss of that submarine “Thetis” during her sea trials in 1939......he talked recently to Emer Horgan for Seascapes ....

The voice of seafarer and maritime enthusiast Hugh Loane in conversation with Emer Horgan for Seascapes and remarkably as Hugh Loane was an eye witness to the loss of the submarine “Thetis” on her sea trials in Liverpool in 1939 - writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram tonight tells us about his connection with the submarine and the story behind its loss and submariner Captain Joe Oram...

Hugh Oram , writer and broadcaster on the loss of the “Thetis” , and his relative Captain Joe Oram , Hugh’s latest book is “On Our Way “ travels in Europe and Ireland , published by Trafford Publishing...
This week the Waterville Coast Guard station was opened by An Taoiseach, the Building, which was originally taken over by the State from the British Coastguard in 1923, had fallen into disrepair and has now been fully refurbished by the Office of Public Works with an investment of €377,000.

Next on Seascapes to Angling , The annual Ireland Angling Show was held in the National Show Centre in Swords in Dublin a few weeks ago Fergal Keane went along for Seascapes......

Fergal Keane with that report from the Ireland Angling Show at the National Show Centre 

Next Tuesday morning 4th April @ 11.a.m the distinguished journalist Charlie Wilkins presents an illustrated talk on the building of Fastnet Lighthouse / Carraig Aonar / the iconic Lone Rock off the South West Coast . Admission is free. All are welcome. That’s all taking place in the Frank O’Connor Library, Old Youghal Road, Mayfield in Cork ....on Tuesday morning next at 11am

Next to a group of Transition Year students from Our Lady of Lourdes, Rosbercon, New Ross in Co. Wexford who are doing a young social innovators project on water safety. The name of their project is “Water Wise”.

Water Wise is focussed on water safety, the students are trying to change the legislation regarding the use of life jackets. The legislation states " All persons under 16 years of age must wear a life jacket at all times on board a pleasure craft" . They feel that people of all ages should wear a life jacket on board a pleasure craft. Also they say “they discovered there is no mandatory course for boat users to take in order to be allowed to steer a boat. This is only the case for commercial boat use.

They would very much like to bring this issue to light. In their view it seems as though personal water safety is not regarded as highly as personal road safety.

.......we wish the Transition year students all the best with their project through Young Social Innovators.....we’ll keep you posted on their progress....speaking of Transition Year students this week on Seascapes joining us in studio we had from Dingle –( Reon ) Rioghán Herkommer- Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne ; Liam Lenihan- from the same school ; also from - St Colman's Community .College ;Midleton Cian McDonald and Katie McCarthyand from Glanmire Community College Emma O'Driscoll and Dylan O'Connor- ......

That’s it for this week here on Seascapes, next Friday night more on the recent sale of the LE Aisling courtesy of Paschal Sheehy – we’ll be hearing from Auctioneer Dominic Daly and the purchaser of the vessel Dick van Der Kamp Ship Sales of The Netherlands ; we’ll have details on the latest edition of Ireland’s only diving magazine “Subsea “ ; Naval historian - Sean T Rickard on the Admiralty Trawler “Lord Eleneage” ; and we shine a light on energy company “Wavepower” plus we hear from Features Editor of Inshore Ireland Magazine – Gery Flynn on what’s in the latest edition from our Galway Studios, all that and much more , until next Friday night – tight lines and fair sailing.”

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of Seascapes your maritime programme, tonight our thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing crew members from the Irish Coastguard Sikorsky S -92 Rescue Helicopter 116 lost off the West Coast near Blacksod in County Mayo earlier this week; Mark Duffy; Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith and the late Captain Dara Fitzpatrick; all members of a tightly knit maritime and rescue service community on this island of ours .............

first on Seascapes this week we bring you some of the highlights of last weekend’s gathering in Tullamore of the Inland Waterways Historical Society where a great array of speakers spoke on aspects of the Limerick Navigation from its opening in 1750s right up to modern times.......with illustrated talks from historians such as Sharon Slater on the Limerick Canal and Una Kierse on Killaloe which were informative and engaging........Dr William O’Connor spoke about the environmental impact Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Plant has had on migratory fish and on the Shannon river........So to ace reporter Ron Coveney who attended the event on Seascapes behalf and spoke first to President of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland – John Dolan....

John Dolan President of the IWAI ......so to Brian Goggin who spoke on the history of the navigation

Next we hear from Una Kierse whom we’ve met here before on Seascapes talking about her beloved Killaloe ....

From Una Kierse to Dr William O’Connor who talked to Ron Coveney about the environmental impact of Ardnacrusha......

The voice of Dr William O‘Connor .....next to Sharon Slater on the Canal system in Limerick.........

Tony Browne recalled the hustle and bustle of Limerick docks in the height of their popularity.

From Tony Browne we’ll leave the final word from the conference to Brian Goggin and the future....

Ron Coveney for Seascapes at the Inland Waterways Historical Society Conference on the Shannon Navigation in Tullamore last weekend .......our thanks to Donal Boland .....
Thanks to Ger Crowley from Bray Harbour Action Group who has been in touch with Seascapes , he told us about the group and its meeting last month , welcoming a report by District

Manager Des O Brien to the Bray Municipal District concerning the harbour....

“This is a welcome development, said Ger Crowley BHAG chairman, it indicates a commitment by the Council to remedy this threat to the ongoing viability of the harbour. It is reassuring to hear that the sand in the harbour is not contaminated.

The favoured approach, therefore, of using it for beach nourishment looks like a win-win solution benefiting both the harbour and the beach”.

They are deeply concerned about the possibility of delay as the build-up of sand is they state “ a ticking time-bomb which if not addressed could well leave the harbour as a permanent derelict eyesore”

The goodwill the Bray Harbour Action Group say towards improving the harbour is terrific and they have been really delighted by the positive public response . There is a facebook page and Twitter feed @BrayHarbourActionGroup . You can see images on the Seascapes webpage .....

Music next and Cobh’s finest – Molgoggers with “Eliza Lee”

Molgoggers - Cobh’s shantymen from their CD “ Absolutely Marvellous – Songs of the Sea” and Eliza Lee featuring the voice of John Crone.....
More music next here on Seascapes , songwriter and fisherman Martyn Travis from Dunmore East and “Deckhand on A Trawler”

Loop Head Lighthouse which reopens this weekend its steeped in history and rich in maritime heritage with its origins dating back to the 1670s. The existing tower style lighthouse was constructed in 1854 and was operated and maintained by a keeper who lived within the lighthouse compound. In January 1991, the lighthouse was converted to automatic operation, and today is monitored by the CIL.

Loop Head Lighthouse will remain open daily (10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.) until November 5th. Admission to the lighthouse, which includes the exhibition and guided tour of the site, is Adults (€5), Children (€2) and Family Passes for up to 2 adults + 3 children (€12). Visit www.loophead.ie or www.clare.ie for more information on Loop Head Lighthouse and the Loop Head Peninsula.

The much anticipated Auction of the LE AISLING takes place in almost a weeks time on Thursday 23rd March at midday in the Carrigaline Court Hotel with auctioneer Dominic Daly taking care of proceedings ....more detail on the Seascapes webpage www.rte.ie/radio1/seascapes .

Next week here on your maritime programme Seascapes we feature the RNLI/ Respect the Water campaign and the joint initiative by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Gaelic Athletic Association which was launched recently in Croke Park , we’ll be hearing from Professor Mike Tipton of Portsmouth University ; the CEO of the RNLI – Paul Boissier; Lifeboatman and seafarer Joe Maddox of Kilmore Quay ; Lyndsey Davey from Skerries – who plays for Dublin and is a three time GAA All Star and the legendary Micheal O Muireachearthaigh , so until next Friday night tight lines and fair sailing.”

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme – Seascapes, writer and broadcaster Norman Freeman on playwright Eugene O’Neill; we congratulate Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis who is honoured by the French with the Chevalier des Palmes Académiques; first this week we hear from the recent Sail Training Ireland for Youth Development Awards in the Mansion House in Dublin in a moment we’ll hear from the Chairman of the charity Seamus McLoughlin and from the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service Hugh Tully and Shauna Gillen of Safehaven ; we’ll also be talking to Ross Biggane who sailed on the Norwegian square rigger “Skoleskib Danmark “ to Brasil last year and to sail trainee Roisin Hackett .... First to the Chairman of Sail Training Ireland Seamus McLoughlin ...

From Seamus McLoughlin to Shauna Gillen of Safehaven who talked about the award they and Spirit of Oysterhaven received from Sail Training International ‘Small vessel operator of the year’

Next to Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service – Commander Hugh Tully

Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service Commander Hugh Tully next on Seascapes we hear from trainee Ross Biggane who talked to us about how he came to sail to Brazil on a Norwegian square rigger during last Summer’s Olympic Games ...

From Ross Biggane to this courageous young lady Roisin Hackett....

The other winners were
Trainee of the year: Ross Moore ; Special Contribution Award:
Victor Springbok ; Perpetual “Asgard” Award: Cork Life Centre ;
Watch Leader/ Mentor of the Year: Louise McGrath ;
Volunteer of the Year: Geraldine Lewis
and outstanding Achievement Award: Tim Baker

Ten days of sail training between Scotland and Northern Ireland changed the life of Belfast man Tim Baker.

Tim was presented with an outstanding achievement award from Sail Training Ireland and is now fulfilling his dream and training as a volunteer technician for Lagan Search and Rescue.

The ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ that changed Tim’s life was on board the Tall Ship ‘Maybe’ -and was organised by Sail Training Ireland in conjunction with Belfast City Council and the European Erasmus+ Programme.

Tim who is 25 said “After seeing a poster advertising last year’s Tall Ships sail training I hesitated about applying because it was so far outside my comfort zone and I wasn’t sure how I would feel sharing a 22 metre Tall Ship with people I didn’t know.

Tim was accepted as a Trainee Search and Rescue Technician by Lagan Search and Rescue in Belfast.

He now volunteers with Belfast City Council at its dinghy sailing and education event at Belfast Marina and having recently moved to a new job Tim said: “I wouldn’t have done any of these things without the self-confidence boost provided by the Sail Training voyage.

Now to writer and broadcaster Norman Freeman on playwright Eugene O’Neill....

Norman Freeman whose latest book is published by the Liffey Press – The Lure of Far Away Places – talking there about playright Eugene O’ Neill.......

Next Thursday in Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club you can hear about” 2016 Offshore Racing in France-A Steep Learning Curve" , An illustrated lecture by Solo Offshore Sailor Tom Dolan will take place on Thursday 16th February @ 20:00hrs at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in Ringsend, There is an entry fee of €5 in aid of the RNLI.

The works of the acclaimed Belgian artist Eugeen Van Mieghem went on display to Irish audiences for the first time this week, when a major new exhibition opened at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane on Thursday, Supported by Dublin Port Company as part of its Port Perspectives arts commissioning series, the exhibition “Eugeen Van Mieghem: Port Life” provides a fascinating visual account of the pulsating life of the Port of Antwerp at the turn of the 20th century.

In the series, Van Mieghem illustrates the harsh labour conditions of dockers, porters and sack-sewers at the time of mechanisation, empathises with the plight of refugees under German occupation, observes the colourful characters that frequented his parents’ quayside café/tavern, and documents the social life of the city including the elegant cafés of Belle Époque society and promenades along the Scheldt. The artist’s personal life is also revealed through drawings and paintings documenting his first wife, who became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of just 24.

Next to Angling and new from Inland Fisheries Ireland

Shore anglers have been very busy in the last week and they have reports from Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Donegal.

Menapia Anglers fished Knocknasilogue through the night and had 6 species including codling to 42cm. The top anglers had between 20 and 30 fish each. The Bannow Bay Anglers fished Cheekpoint on a beautiful spring day catching mostly flounders and whiting. Whiting, coalies and flats made up the catches for the West Cork and District anglers fishing in the dark on Broad Strand.

The catches were said to be that good that anglers didn’t notice their gear freezing about them! Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club put Fenit Pier to the test for the John Lacey Memorial. Catches weren’t great but some good coalfish and flounders helped keep interest going. Galway Bay SAC reports that the fishing is really picking up there as shoals of coalies along with flounder, dogfish and rockling are patrolling the surf. Donegal Bay is producing the goods for the Killybegs Mariners – good flounder fishing and some fine sea trout just under the rod tips too…

The canal in Athlone produced big bags for the Madcap anglers again at the weekend. Despite a very cold start to the day over 200lb was amassed by the 13 anglers fishing their league final. The newly developed stretch and Emlagh near Donamon on the River Suck continues to prove the value of the work there as all swims produced good returns of mostly roach with the odd hybrid thrown in for the Connacht Match Anglers.

Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Tony Lewis of UCC who has this week been honoured for what is described as – “his invaluable contribution to the offshore renewable energy sector across Europe, Mr. Jean-Pierre Thébault, Ambassador of France to Ireland presented Professor Lewis with the grand honour of Chevalier des Palmes Académiques. Originally a decoration founded by Napoléon to honour eminent members of the University of Paris the Chevalier des Palmes Académiques is a national order of France for distinguished academics and figures in the world of culture and education. Dubbed the ‘father of ocean energy’, Professor Tony Lewis has dedicated his entire career to marine renewable energy and has been one of the most active members of the Ocean Energy community for the past four decades.

Paulo Mirpuri got a step closer to realising Portugal's first entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2020 thanks to Ireland's Green Dragon VOR 70 now a training boat for Mirpuri's campaign. Last month the Portuguese crew made a successful ocean crossing in the former Galway–backed Green Dragon. Ashore in Bridgetown, skipper Mirpuri said: 'My debut on an ocean crossing taught me a lot, especially the importance of the spirit and unity of the crew we’ll be hearing more about this in coming weeks.....

That’s it for this week here on Seascapes, on the Sound Desk this week Niall O’ Sullivan .......next Friday night on your maritime programme we meet Cork County Council Heritage Officer – Conor Nelligan and hear about a new Exhibition on The Aud on Spike Island in Cork Harbour ; we talk river cruising with Alan Lynch , Managing Director of Cruisescapes .....and meet Danny Giles of Norwegian Cruise specialists Hurtigruten at the recent Holiday World Exhibition , all that and much more until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing”.