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Displaying items by tag: Fishy Fun

Ireland’s fisheries resource is set to come alive at the Natural History Museum this summer at a free event called Fishy Fun.

A range of interactive activities suitable for all the family will be part of the special one-day event on Saturday 20 July, one of a number of initiatives this summer to recognise International Year of the Salmon.

Visitors to the ‘Dead Zoo’ on the day will learn about the fantastic collection of fish on display and how the salmon, Ireland’s most iconic fish species, is facing its biggest challenge yet.

Fisheries staff will be on hand to help youngsters examine the creepy crawlies which live in Ireland’s rivers and lakes via microscopes. while novice anglers can try their hand at fishing through a virtual fishing simulator.

As well as the museum collection, aquariums will also showcase some of the freshwater fish which live in waters across Ireland.

“We are looking forward to introducing the public to the mystical aquatic world at this family-focused event,” said Inland Fisheries Ireland chief Dr Ciaran Byrne.

“Novice anglers, future fisheries biologists or scientists or anyone who has an interest in the natural world will enjoy learning more about the fish and creatures which live in our waters and what we can do to ensure their ongoing conservation for future generations.”

The free Fishy Fun event will take place from 10am-4pm on Saturday 20 July in the National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

As part of the event, children and schools are also invited to enter a national colouring competition, The Salmon of Colour, which will be available in the museum and online in the summer months with more information coming soon.

Published in Angling

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)