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Displaying items by tag: Ferry Terminal

The Isle of Man Minister for Infrastructure doesn't think the ferry terminal project will cost more than already requested.

The minister doesn't believe work to the Liverpool Ferry Terminal project will cost more than has already been requested by his predecessor.

The project is expected to cost more than double what was initially requested of Tynwald.

Chris Thomas insists the June 2023 deadline is still realistic and says whilst not everything was straight forward with this project - he believes it's not right to penalise other off-Island projects in future.

ManxRadio reports including a link to the podcast with the Minister spreaking on the terminal that is to serve the route to Douglas Harbour.

Published in Ferry

#dublinbay - The Irish Times writes that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has rejected a proposal from $5 billion US children’s entertainment giant Hasbro to bring “Hollywood production” to the Dublin suburb with a studio in the harbour's former Stena Line terminal.

The US company submitted a joint expression of interest for the vacant building, which has lain unused since 2015, along with Irish animation studio Boulder Media, which it purchased in 2016.

According to the tender document submitted by the pair, the project would see “a truly unique studio and academic facility with stand-out identity and world-wide appeal. Hollywood production would truly be happening in the centre of Dún Laoghaire – with regularity”.

The tender, which has been seen by The Irish Times, states that the studio would house 350-400 crew and management “from day 1, rising to 650”. It continues: “Local spend of our highly skilled, higher earning creative and media professionals would also be very considerable.”

Hasbro is planning to use Boulder Media for a number of theatrical released movies on a long-term repeating cycle, which would support a €5 million investment in bringing the existing building up to standard.

More on the story can be read here through this link

#dublinbay - New expressions of interest will be sought by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for the former Stena Line ferry terminal site after a €20 million plan to convert it into a technology hub stalled late last year.

“Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown will be seeking expressions of interest for the development of the ferry terminal building in the next few weeks. Information sought will include production of a robust business plan and adequate proof of funding for the first three years of the project,” a spokeswoman for the local authority told The Irish Times.

The council is seeking expressions from consortiums, businesses, commercial interests, entrepreneurs or other individuals who will “develop and manage the property and offer space to the business sector while providing a positive economic impact for Dún Laoghaire town”.

Estate agent Lisney has been appointed to find an occupier. The building has a 10-year planning permission with an option to extend for a further period of five years.

Investor Philip Gannon had been leading a plan to transform the empty terminal into a 7,000 square metre digital hub, but last October pulled out of the project. Mr Gannon terminated his lease on the site after issues emerged over the lack of a foreshore licence needed to develop the property correctly.

The technology investor Ian Lucey had also been involved in the project to develop the terminal, but relations between him and Mr Gannon broke down some time ago. Mr Lucey has expressed an interest in continuing to be involved in the development if possible.

For much more on The Irish Times story, click here. 

#FerryTerminal - A change of use through a planning application of the former ferry terminal in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, from duty-free shops and passenger services to a 450-job technology cluster, is to be lodged in coming weeks.

The move writes The Irish Times comes as Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company is in advanced negotiations with a preferred bidder for a multimillion euro, 10-year lease on the building.

The plan to redesignate the terminal is an attempt to generate an income from the building, which was opened 22 years ago to facilitate Stena’s Dún Laoghaire-Holyhead ferry service, which was subsequently withdrawn

The Harbour Company is also selling a small parcel of land known as “the gut” at the base of the west pier. Both moves are designed to generate income to meet the harbour company’s core objective of maintaining the harbour itself. Last year the Harbour Company spent €1 million on repairs to the Carlisle Pier and further repairs are needed to the west pier.

Confirming the negotiations on the lease and change of use of the former ferry terminal at St Michael’s Pier, Gerry Dunne, chief executive of the harbour company, said a public tender process had identified a preferred bidder for a 10-year lease on the building.

The newspaper has more on the story, click here.

#HarbourArt - At the end of this month the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company are to mark the 200th anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the Harbour in 1817.  

This is to take place on Wednesday 31st May when President D Higgins will officially open a busy 6 months programme of art, drama, food and historical events about the harbour town that in 1821 was renamed Kingstown. This was to honour the visit of King George VI during the harbour's construction. 

Contemporary Harbour Art Exhibition

Launching today, Tuesday 16th May the Gallery Dalkey presents an exhibition (in Dun Laoghaire at the Ferry Terminal building). The exhibition is been held in conjunction with the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Bicentenary Group to commemorate the historic year.

Peter Pearson, a local historian, author and artist involved in the Bicentenary celebrations will feature pieces from his collection since the 1970’s. The Maritime aspect of Dun Laoghaire, its Harbour seafront, sailing boats, yachts and car ferries remain a lifelong influence for Peter.

Other artists showing will be Yvonne Moore, Mary O Connor, Keith Dixon, Sonya Kinch, Rod Coyne, Brigitte McGovern, Leonard Sexton, John Short, Maureen Boalch, Tania Tsaryk, Denise French & Jacqueline Holohan.

Speaking about the summer of events ahead, CEO of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, Gerry Dunne, said: “This Contemporary Art Exhibition is one of over 25 free events taking place to commemorate our Bicentenary year.

We welcome members of the public to get involved and find out more by logging on to dlharbour200.ie

The Exhibition will continue at the Ferry Terminal, St. Micheals Pier until Sunday 5th June. Opening times: 11:00 – 17:30 (Closed Mondays)

Entry is free and open to the public. Paintings are available for sale.

With just over a fortnight to go to resumption of Stena Line's Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead fast-craft sailings on 1 April, the route to Wales is to see the larger HSS Stena Explorer return instead of Stena Lynx III, writes Jehan Ashmore.
It was originally planned that the 4,113grt 'Lynx' craft would start the season while the 19,638grt HSS (High Speed Service) fast-craft would take over in June for the summer months.

According to Stena Line over 70% of its passengers business is carried by the HSS Stena Explorer in the high season. It is felt that the 1996 Finnish built fast-craft is better suited for the service due to a loyal customer base which was reflected by repeat bookings and their preference of the HSS craft on the 120 minute (2 hour) route.

A daily single round trip is scheduled with sailings from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead departing at 13:15hrs. The corresponding sailing from the Anglesey port departs at 10.00hrs and arrives at the Irish port at 12 noon. Sailings will operate through the summer until 13 September.

From there on Stena will make a decision as to its continuing schedule, though it is widely believed that the prospects of the fuel-thirsty, expensive to run HSS fast-craft service are likely to be at an end of an era.

Last month negotiations over the core issue of harbour fees were held between Stena Line and Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company. It is understood that the annual fee of €6.5m was dropped to €2m. The board of the harbour company has given a 'conditional green light' of a new ferry contract to Stena Line to run the service for the next two years with an option of a third year.

The service closed for its seasonal break earlier this year on 5 January with the 'Lynx' going into temporary lay-up at Holyhead's inner harbour to join the HSS Stena Explorer. The HSS had been 'wintering' at the port since September sailings were taken over by the Lynx.

Earlier this month the Stena Lynx III came to Dun Laoghaire to continue her lay-up period. The 1996 Tasmanian built craft will stay there before resuming seasonal sailings between Rosslare-Fishguard in tandem with the conventional ferry Stena Europe.

In the meantime the craft is berthed at the harbour's two-berth ferry terminal at St. Michaels Wharf. The HSS berth is only designed for this type of fast-craft whereas the other berth now occupied by the Lynx was built originally for conventional ferries but was re-configured last year to suit the fast-craft.

Published in Ferry

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020

Irish Sailing Performance Head Quarters

Irish Sailing's base for the exclusive use of its own teams are located on the grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The Irish Sailing Performance HQ houses the senior Irish sailing teams such as Olympic Silver Medalist Annalise Murphy

The HQ plans were announced in May 2018 and opened in March 2019.

The HQ comprises a number of three converted shipping containers and a floating slipway and pontoon

The HQ aim is to improve both training and educational opportunities for them, thereby creating systematic medal potential.

The Performance HQ is entirely mobile and has space for briefings and athlete education, a gym, gear storage and a boat maintenance area.

The athlete briefing room can then be shipped directly to international competitions such as the Olympics Regatta and provide a base for athletes overseas.