Displaying items by tag: East Belfast

9th November 2022

Northern Ireland Canoeist Alistair McCreery Awarded Bursary

Alistair McCreery, a 24-year-old canoeist from East Belfast, is the sixth athlete to have been awarded a £500 bursary as part of the ongoing Hughes Insurance partnership with the Mary Peters Trust.

The £5,000 bursary programme is now in its second year and awards funding to ten young athletes from across Northern Ireland to support them on their sporting journey. Each of the ten athletes are selected by the Mary Peters Trust.

Alistair has been representing Ireland in canoe slalom since 2015. The sport calls on competitors to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible.

Alistair McCreery the 24 year old Irish Canoeist

Lady Mary Peters said: “Alistair has achieved so much already including progressing to the semi-finals at two ICF canoe slalom world cups. He is a fantastic ambassador for Northern Ireland and an inspiration to other young athletes.”

Inspired by the uniqueness of slalom canoeing, Alistair took up the sport in 2009 at the tender age of thirteen. He quickly progressed and has gone on to compete internationally, including at the World Championships in Augsburg this past July with 8000 spectators looking on.

This year marks 50 years since canoe slalom was first introduced to the Olympic program in Munich 1972, significant given that too is the year Lady Mary Peters brought home gold.

Commenting on his bursary, Alistair said: “It is an honour to be given this award and to become part of a group of athletes who have received awards and support from Lady Mary’s Trust over the years, such as Rory McIlroy and Paddy Barnes".

“Over the years, I have developed so much love for my sport. I enjoy how different it is. It’s fair to say that canoeing has not only changed my life but become my life, and it’s been my vehicle to see the world taking me to Brazil, all over Europe and even India. It has allowed me to become part of a community of athletes around the globe and experience things that very few people get to.”

Alistair plans to use the bursary to access training at world-class facilities in Europe ahead of the 2023 season.

Alistair added: “For the remainder of 2022, I will be focusing on preparing for the year ahead, to qualify for and compete in the 2023 European games in Krakow and the 2024 Olympic qualifiers in London. The bursary will be a huge help in accessing the training I need to be at my very best and continue to do Northern Ireland proud.”

Published in Canoeing

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Dispute Over Kayaking School In East Belfast

#Kayaking - A Northern Irish businessman has spoken out over what he claims is lack of support from the Alliance Party for an indoor kayaking facility in East Belfast.

As the Belfast Telegraph reports, jewellery retail entrepreneur Peter Boyle says he expects a refusal of his application to retain a marquee at a restored 50-yard pool in the grounds of Ormiston House, currently being used by the Belfast Kayaking Academy.

Boyle claims that Alliance Party leader and MLA Chris Lyttle took concerns from a local group objecting to the kayaking facility directly to the planning officer.

“We were a bit annoyed that Alliance hadn’t spoken to us first,” he told the Telegraph. “While there was a group of local people objecting, there was also significant local support.”

Boyle adds that his ire was raise by a subsequent Alliance newsletter that pledged support for sport in East Belfast.

“Our point was that this pool was meant to be a community facility and should be within the community it serves,” he said.

A solicitor for the Alliance Party has however branded Boyle’s claims as “spurious, innacurate, bizzae [and] false”, listing a number of planning enforcement cases against Boyle over alleged unauthorised works on the grounds of Ormiston House.

The Belfast Telegraph has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Kayaking

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

At A Glance - National Yacht Club 2024 Events