Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#marine – The Irish Maritime Administration (IMA) was established in 2013 to integrate the planning and delivery of all the maritime services of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport under a single national office. The Department's website describes this…

#islandnation – Heir Island, which is mistakenly called 'Hare Island' and in Irish is known as 'Inishodriscol' is one of "Carbery's Hundred Isles," that are "scattered," as some descriptions put it, throughout Roaringwater Bay on the West Cork coastline. It…

#islandnation – Why is it that women have been written out of the history of the Irish fishing industry and that in Ireland we ignore the economic opportunities which can be obtained from associating with pirates? Those are two of…

#IslandNation - Readers of this blog have been kind in welcoming me back to the airwaves, for which I am grateful. Community radio on which I now broadcast is quite a big operation about which I did not know a…

#islandnation – Having written last week about the lack of national recognition for our maritime heritage I received a press release about the Central Bank honouring John Philip Holland, the Irish inventor of the submarine. I am pleased to see…

#maritime – I was giving a talk at Bishopstown Library on the western side of Cork City during Heritage Week on the subject – "Is Ireland's Maritime Heritage Recognised as Part of Ireland's Heritage?" – outlining what had been achieved…

#sailing – I have been friends for a long number of years with Ireland's two top international sailors who set new speed records for sailing in the Round Britain and Ireland Race. I hear regularly from them and am proud…

#clouds – Clouds can be unjustly maligned. Life would be immeasurably poorer without them. They are expressions of the mood of the atmosphere and can be read like the moods of a person's countenance. "Clouds are so commonplace that their…

#corkharbour – In compiling this month's edition of This Island Nation I met a 23-year-old student from University College, Cork, who told me the story of Soviet-inclined workers of Cork Harbour Board taking over the port and flying the Red…

#islandnation – In this month's programme we have the story of a Soviet take-over of Cork Port, hear that love is in the air at the country's lifeboat stations, with the 45th station due to open shortly; we go to…

#rorcbdcc – At a time when the future of Irish sailing is under examination by the sport's national association, the Irish success in winning what has been described as the world cup of offshore racing, the Commodore's Cup, is in my…

#islandnation – The sea moulds the Irish coastline, it lubricates the nation's economy, its exploration is a resource for scientific investigation, it provides adventure and leisure. The sea which surrounds us also has the potential to be a cradle for…

#tallship – The first Bantry Longboat ever built in the Midlands will go sailing on the Shannon at Banagher in County Offaly. It will be some sight when it does, bringing involvement with the Atlantic Challenge which organises international competition…

#sailing – Sailing is a sport, not the qualification of a superior social standing. Is that fully understood by everyone involved in the sport or is there still an element of elitism which needs to be eradicated? The term 'yachting' was…

#seachange – The Government is planning a new maritime safety strategy. The Irish Maritime Administration, which is effectively the Coast Guard and other aspects of maritime transport within the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, has decided that Ireland needs…

#thisislandnation – Enjoying the current good spell of weather in the South of the country I have been reflecting on how marvellous Nature and marine wildlife is and how fortunate it is to have ownership of a boat which allows…