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#piers – The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today announced details of a €23m package for the repair of public owned piers, harbours and slipways damaged during the winter storms and for investment in the ongoing development of Ireland's public harbour network.In announcing this initiative, the Minister said "We are all too well aware of the damage wreaked on our harbour network during the winter storms.
 
I am delighted to announce as part of an extended capital programme for 2014, this significant funding for the immediate repair of piers and harbours across the country".
 
€8.5m for 115 storm damaged piers and harbours to assist 11 Local Authorities and the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine to repair this storm damaged infrastructure. (see tables 1&2 below for details)
 
Funding of €7m for 111 projects to repair Local Authority owned storm damaged harbours, piers and slipways and €1.5m for remediation work at four Department owned, non-Fishery Harbour Centres including €1.3m for North Harbour Cape Clear.

"In addition, a further €14.63m of funding is being provided for harbour development in 2014 and this represents a significant increase on the level of funding provided in 2013. This is an indication of the Government's commitment to developing our fishery harbours for the benefit of our fishing industry, seafood processing sector, other ancillary marine industries, tenants and the wider community. It is part of an ongoing and long term strategy to develop and improve the facilities at our Fishery Harbour Centres and other public harbours around our coast." (see table 3 below for details).

€11.63m of this is allocated towards safety, maintenance and new development works at six Fishery Harbour Centres at Howth, Dunmore East, Castletownbere, Dingle, Ros a Mhíl and Killybegs, in addition to infrastructural improvement works at "bull nose" pier, North Harbour, Cape Clear. This works also includes €4m for dredging works at Dunmore East.

€3m is being allocated for Local Authority Harbour Development and Marine Leisure programmes. The Department is contacting the relevant Local Authorities in relation to applications under this element of the Programme.

Flagship projects in the 2014 Capital Programme include the works at "bull nose" pier Cape Clear, major dredging works at Dunmore East, electrical upgrading in Howth, slipway works at Ros a Mhíl, Castletownbere and Dingle, and a small craft harbour in Killybegs.

The Minister commented that "the projects consisting of €23m in total capital expenditure will repair the storm damage to our vitally important fisheries piers and harbours network and will develop our harbours for the benefit of our seafood industry and the coastal communities dependent on this infrastructure. This package will help to ensure that this important infrastructure is fit for purpose in the modern era and will bring significant added value to local communities and much welcome jobs and economic activity".

 
 
   

Table 1 Departmental owned Non-Fishery Harbour Centres approved for funding under the Storm Damage Programme.

 

Location

Structure Type

DAFM Approved Funding

Cape Clear, Co.Cork.

North Harbour

€1,300,000

Dooagh, Co Mayo

Pier (PLB)

€115,000

Westcove, Co. Kerry

Navigation Beacon (PLB)

€60,000

Gun Rock, Co. Galway

Beacon (PLB)

€40,000

TOTAL

€1,515,000

 

Table 2 Local Authority Projects approved for funding under the Storm Damage Programme

Location

DAFM Approved 2014

90% funding

Cork County Council

 

Pallas Sea Wall, Ardgroom

€36,000

 

Glandore Pier

€180,000

 

Courtmacsherry Harbour

€9,000

 

Letter Pier, Kilcrohane

€27,000

 

Dursey Island Pier

€9,450

 

Travarra Pier

€13,500

 

Cleanderry Slip, Ardgroom

€22,500

 

Gorteen Pier

€9,000

 

Deelish Pier, Skibbereen

€27,000

 

McDonald's Quay Youghal

€72,000

 

Baltimore Pier

€36,000

 

Barleycove Beach

€45,000

Total Cork Co. Co.

€486,450

Waterford County Council

 

Tramore Seawall

€135,000

 

Boatstrand Pier

€315,000

 

Dunmore East Stormwall

€18,000

Total Waterford Co. Co.

€468,000

Wexford County Council

 

Courtown Harbour 1

€477,000

 

Cahore Harbour

€49,500

 

Wexford Harbour

€9,000

 

Kilmore Quay, Harbour 2

€180,000

 

Courtown Harbour 2

€630,000

 

Fethard Harbour

€9,000

 

Slade Harbour

€54,000

 

St Helens Harbour

€45,900

 

Ballyhack Harbour

€45,000

 

Carne Harbour

€13,500

Total Wexford Co. Co.

€1,512,900

Mayo County Council

 

Roonagh Pier

€18,000

 

Porturlin Harbour

€135,000

 

Purtoon, Inishturk Pier

€27,000

 

Kilcummin Harbour

€63,000

 

Killala Harbour

€63,000

 

Inishbiggle Pontoon

€27,000

 

Clare Island Pier & Slipway

€76,500

 

Islandmore Pontoon

€18,000

 

Mulranny Pier

€67,500

 

Old Head Pier

€12,600

 

Blackshod Pier

€72,000

 

Carramore Pier

€47,700

 

Killerduff Harbour

€135,000

 

Rathlacken Harbour

€135,000

 

Saleen Harbour

€90,000

 

Lecanvey Pier

€10,800

 

Bunlough Slipway

€9,000

 

Faulmore Slipway

€45,000

 

Belderrigh Pier, Ballycastle

€90,000

 

Inishkea Island Pier

€45,000

 

Frenchport Pier, Belmullet

€18,000

 

Westport Quay

€27,000

Total Mayo Co. Co.

€1,232,100

Sligo County Council

 

Mullaghmore Harbour

€89,100

 

Enniscrone Pier

€61,200

Total Sligo Co. Co.

€150,300

Galway County Council

 

Cé na Trá Ban, Lettermore

€198,000

 

Cé an Mace, Carna

€90,000

 

Cé Cora Point, Inis Meáin

€135,000

 

Cé Sruthan Pier, An Cheathru Rua

€216,000

 

Cé Inis Oírr Slipway, Inis Oírr

€108,000

 

Cé Annaghvaan, Lettermore

€180,000

 

Seán Céibh Spideál

€135,000

 

Cé Spideál Nua

€90,000

 

Cé Inis Oírr Slipway, Inis Oírr

€90,000

 

Cé Dolan

€108,000

 

Cé Pointe, An Ceathru Rua

€180,000

 

Cé Sruthan Bui, Rosmuc

€135,000

 

Cé Caladh Thaidh

€108,000

 

Cé Finnis, Finnis Island

€135,000

 

Cé Rossadilisk

€108,000

Total Galway Co. Co.

€2,016,000

Kerry County Council

 

Local Aids to Navigation

€19,350

 

Kilmakilogue Pier

€18,675

 

Tahilla Pier

€5,850

 

Blackwater Pier

€675

 

Cuan Pier

€2,700

 

Coonanna Pier

€1,125

 

Cooscrome Pier

€7,650

 

Fenit Pier

€7,740

 

Knightstown Pier

€6,750

 

Dromatoor Pier

€7,650

 

Bunnavalla Pier

€4,500

 

Dunquin Pier

€27,000

 

Brandon Pier

€4,500

Total Kerry Co. Co.

€114,165

Wicklow County Council

 

Arklow Harbour South Pier

€5,400

Total Wicklow Co. Co.

€5,400

Donegal County Council

 

Mountcharles Pier

€36,000

 

Magherarorty Harbour

€45,000

 

Buncrana Harbour

€45,000

 

Arranmore, Rannagh Pier Slip

€27,000

 

Bundoran Pier

€7,200

 

Malinmore Pier

€6,750

 

Doonalt Pier (near Glencolmcille)

€6,750

 

Bruckless Pier

€16,200

 

Port Inver

€18,000

 

Cladnageeragh Pier (near Kilcar)

€22,500

 

Portsalon Pier

€22,500

 

Bunaniver Pier

€31,500

 

Wyon Point & Rinnalea Navigation Lights

€9,000

 

Nancy's Rock Navigation Perch

€31,500

 

Cassan Sound Pier

€9,000

 

Malinbeg, Ballyederlan, Gortalia, Tawney (Piers & Slipways)

€18,000

 

Donegal Town Pier

€3,600

 

Bunagee Pier

€135,000

 

Ballysaggart Pier

€13,500

 

Owey Island Pier

€27,000

 

Rathmullan Pier

€27,000

 

Leabgarrow Harbour, Arranmore

€45,000

 

Ballyshannon Harbour

€45,000

 

Curransport Slipway

€9,000

 

Arranmore,Stackamore, Slipway

€6,750

 

Cruit Island Slipway

€6,750

 

Inis Caoraigh Slipway

€18,000

 

Killybegs Harbour, Shore Road

€63,000

Total Donegal Co. Co.

€751,500

Clare County Council

 

Liscannor Pier

€130,950

 

Ballyvaughan Pier

€65,700

 

Seafield Pier

€18,000

 

Kilbaha Pier

€18,000

Total Clare Co. Co.

€232,650

Louth County Council

 

Carlingford Harbour

€4,500

Total Louth Co. Co.

€4,500

   

GRAND TOTAL

€6,973,965

Table 3   2014 Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Capital Programme

Location

Project

DAFM Approved Funding

 

Cape Clear, Co. Cork.

Bull Nose Development

€3,000,000

 

Safety & Maintenance Works

€50,000

 

Disability Access Works

€10,000

 
 

Piers, Lights & Beacons

€27,000

 

All Fishery Harbour Centres

Safety & Maintenance

€1,260,000

 

Disability Access

€100,000

 

Howth FHC

Design & Planning for Pontoons between Middle and West Pier

€100,000

 

Syncrolift Platform Painting & Repairs

€80,000

 

Upgrading of Navigational Lights & Markers

€20,000

 

Upgrading Electrical System

€500,000

 

East Pier Repairs

€150,000

 

Castletownbere FHC

Power points & Electrical Upgrade Mainland Quay

€200,000

 

Mainland Quay Perimeter Fencing/Wall

€200,000

 

Harbour Slipway

€300,000

 

Welfare facilities for harbour users (Dinish)

€100,000

 

Syncrolift drainage  – Design & Planning

€150,000

 

An Daingean FHC

CCTV Upgrade

€40,000

 

Main Pier sheet pile condition survey

€40,000

 

Boatyard Slipway Removal

€200,000

 

Ros a Mhíl FHC

Design & Planning for Phase 2 Small Craft Harbour

€31,000

 

Commencement of New Slipway

€133,000

 

Dunmore East FHC

Construction of Harbour Building Extension

€220,000

 

Dredging Works

€4,000,000

 

Killybegs FHC

Safety Mooring (Department Craft)

€20,000

 

Landing Pier Fendering

€30,000

 

Floating work platform

€9,000

 

Synchrolift Carriage

€10,000

 

Repairs to Blackrock Pier

€150,000

 

Small Craft Harbour – Phase 1

€500,000

 

Local Authority Development

Local Authority Programme (excluding storm damage projects)

€3,000,000

 
 

Marine Leisure & Marine Tourism

Local Authorities

 

TOTAL

€14,630,000

 

 

 

   

 

Published in Coastal Notes

Afloat magazine profiles Noonan Boats, one of the country’s leading repair facilities

From collision damage, keel fairing right up to osmosis treatments and re-sprays, Noonan boatyard in Newcastle, Greystones Co. Wicklow offers such a comprehensive service on the East Coast there is little need for any boat to go abroad for repairs these days, regardless of the extent of damage.

And news of the quality work has been spreading with boats from the four coasts Ireland coming to Wicklow for a range of work.

noonan_clip2

Graeme Noonan (left) has extensive big boat repair experience from his time in the marine industry in Sydney, Australia and is an active RS sailor. Founder Tony Noonan (centre) has spent a lifetime in the Irish Marine industry with Neil Watson Yachts, Wicklow Marine Services before setting up Noonan Boats in 1995. Brian Flahive is an active dinghy and keelboat sailor this year finished second in the Round Ireland double-handed class and won the Fireball National Championships.

Father and son team Tony and Graeme Noonan have over 30 years in the business and have recently expanded the premises to over 3,000 sq feet to cater for a growing range of repair work for boats up to 50 feet under cover.

They have a well-established reputation for the treatment of osmosis, to resolve hull blistering. This is a preventative and remedial process that requires specialist treatment.

The bulk of repair work comes from along the East Coast based boats and the nearby port of Dun Laoghaire but the company offers a national service to include transport to and from the Noonan boatyard if required.

“We have an established track record dealing with Insurance companies. No job is too difficult, too small or too big for us” says Tony Noonan.

Most work is carried out in in a purpose-built marine workshop containing two lifting bay facilities that includes keel and rudder repair pits but the firm also carries out on site repairs to suit too.

Repairs are carried out to original specifications and they carry out re-moulding repairs to up to date construction methods e.g. GRP foam core, Balsa core and carbon under vacuum bagging conditions.

A particular speciality is the repair of carbon repairs to dinghy masts, spinnaker poles and hulls. This has become more popular recently with the advent of carbon bowsprits on boats such as the J109s and SB3s.

Keel fairing, the process of improving the accuracy of the shape of a keel to improve boat speed is also high on the jobs list.

The company also has the specialist hot weld equipment to carry out the repair of polyethylene materials as used in the RS Feva and Laser Pico dinghies.

noonan_work

Colour Matching

Making a fibreglass repair to bring a boat back to original specification is one thing but matching gel coat to weathered or faded paintwork is quite another. Noonan Boatyard cosmetically match gels to present colour so the repair can appear practically invisible.

Polyethelene Repair

Plastic boats are durable but they can split and crack. Repairing them requires specialist heat gun welding equipment

Repair and re-spray

Weathered topsides, especially darker colours, always benefit from a re-spray, tired areas including decks and non-skid areas can also be re-sprayed

Floor matrix repair

After a keel grounding with rocks, for example, damage to a floor matrix may not be immediately visible but it is vital that inner frames are checked and repaired

Osmosis treatment, hot vac and copper coat

The yard uses the latest technology in the treatment of osmosis. Hulls are gel-planed to expose lay up prior to a HOT- VAC process and drying. This can be the stage where copper coat is an economical choice. It ends the need for the expensive and unpleasant annual chore of cleaning and repainting a boat’s hull. Simply hose down the hull at regular intervals, commonly once a year, to remove any build-up of sea-slime. We currently have two examples in our yard at present which show after one year and after ten years of immersion – and still working. Come and see for yourself!

Fully Repaired, Tried and Tested

Noonan Boats completed extensive repairs to Oystercatcher, a Gibsea 37, and when this work was completed the firm entered the boat in the gruelling 704-mile race round Ireland.

Local sailors Brian Flahive (Fireball National Champion) who works at the yard and Bryan Byrne manned what was Wicklow Sailing Club’s first ever yacht to entry into the doubled handed class of the Race. Dubbed the ‘Pride of Newcastle’ the entry finished an impressive winner of IRC III and Cruiser Class IV. The pair also finished second in the two handed class.

It was no easy journey but certainly the repairs stood up to the job, a case of repair work being tried, tested and proven!

The Boatyard, Sea Road, Newcastle, Greystones, Co. Wicklow
Tel/Fax: 01 281 9175  •  Mobile: 086 170 8875
Email: [email protected]

Published in Boat Maintenance

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]