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Displaying items by tag: Salmon of Colour

Two young artists have been chosen as winners of the Salmon of Colour colouring competition organised by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) and the National Museum of Ireland’s Natural History branch to mark International Year of the Salmon.

Eight-year-old Maisy from Lusk, Co Dublin was selected as the winner of the 8-11 category while Molly (12) from Clonsilla in west Dublin scooped the top prize in the older 12-14 category.

They emerged from more than 1,000 entrants in the competition, which ran throughout the summer months of 2019 and which asked young artists to colour in the designated image of the lifecycle of an Atlantic salmon.

The winners will now receive a €100 voucher for the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History shop and a private, guided tour of the museum.

Molly, aged 12 from Clonsilla, west Dublin, was chosen in the ages 12-14 categoryMolly, aged 12 from Clonsilla, west Dublin, was chosen in the ages 12-14 category

The competition was delivered as part of awareness raising activities for International Year of the Salmon, which aimed to engage the public around the challenges facing salmon today.

Suzanne Campion, head of business development at IFI, said: “We are delighted that so many children took part and have engaged with us on the issues affecting salmon populations today by colouring in the salmon lifecycle and learning more about the importance of this fish and the precious nature of its existence across the Northern Hemisphere.”

In addition to the Salmon of Colour Colouring Competition, the museum and IFI partnered on a one-day Fishy Fun event in July which engaged the general public around the fisheries and angling resource and the importance of its conservation through a range of interactive activities for International Year of the Salmon.

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)