Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes, this week we have a report from last weekend’s commemoration in Ventry of the O‘Rahilly from Grainne McPolin for Seascapes, we’ll also be hearing from historian Brandn O Ciobhain on the background to the event ; Sarah Murphy visits the world heritage site and exotic maritime heritage port city of Valparaiso in Chile at the foot of the Andes and we’ll hear the music of Astor Piazzolla arriving by land rather than by sea .................first this week here on Seascapes we met up with scientist Denis Crowley in Galway some weeks ago as the Skipper Expo was concluding, we talked to Denis about his work as a scientist with the Marine Institute in Galway, the Holland 1 ROV and the research vessels Celtic Voyager and Celtic Explorer.....................here then is Denis Crowley.........
The Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars Programme 2016 is an intensive, accredited workshop aimed at examining how climate and oceans interact, with particular examples from the Atlantic Ocean and higher latitudes. The workshop will consist of lectures, practical sessions and fieldtrips delivered by experts from Ireland and Germany. It is open to International postgraduate students (Masters and Doctoral) of marine, atmosphere and climate-related sciences and will be held in Galway, Ireland from 12 to 20 September 2016.
Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars is a collaboration between the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research & Training (SMART), NUI Galway, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Partnership for the Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO), the Helmholtz Climate programme REKLIM and is supported by the Nippon Foundation.
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The impacts of human activities on natural climate mechanisms will be examined in detail with reference to the 2013 IPCC Assessment Report. All major components of the climate system will be addressed, with special focus on the Atlantic Ocean and its ecosystems. Tools for modelling and observations will be presented, as well as sessions on policy and societal response to global climate change. Workshop sessions will focus on:
· The role of the carbon system in the ocean
· The role of Marine Ecosystems and the services they provide
· The basic science that underpins Climate Modelling
· Future tools for modelling, measuring and observing the Atlantic Ocean
· Climate policy, legal framework, and marine management for the Atlantic Ocean
Applications to join Atlantic Climate are through online application form and will remain open until the deadline of Friday 3 June 2016 at 18:00 UTC. Further information is available on the SMART Website or by contacting [email protected]. Also please find attached the event poster for Atlantic Ocean Climate Scholars Programme 2016.
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Dr John Treacy whom we spoke to recently.... has been appointed Honorary Research Officer for the Maritime Institute of Ireland, who operate the National Maritime Museum of Ireland. Over the next five years he will be conducting academic research and publication to promote and preserve Ireland's rich and diverse maritime heritage. He hope’s this will serve to increase awareness of the critical place maritime affairs have had; past, present and future, to the political, social and economic well-being of the island of Ireland.......Congratulations John from Seascapes and the maritime community .....fair sailing”
Next here on Seascapes to South America and a city whose streets are resplendent with multi coloured buildings and avenues of Jacaranda trees, Sara Murphy travelled to Valparaiso and has this tale about the World Heritage site for Seascapes .....
Sarah Murphy on the historic city of Valparaiso, the music was “Libertango “ from Astor Piazzolla and you can see some of Sarah’s photographs of Valparaiso on the Seascapes webpage ...
www .rte.ie/radio1/seascapes
We’ll be bring you highlights from the H.E. President Michael D Higgins visit to Banna Strand and the Casement commemorations here on Seascapes in a few weeks time .....
The Kerry Amateur Radio Group will participate as an Award Station in this year's International Marconi Day event on tomorrow Saturday 23rd April, which celebrates the birthday of “the father of radio communications,” Gugliemo Marconi.
The group of Amateur Radio enthusiasts will set up a radio communications station at Colaiste Brhreanainn on the site of the former Marconi Station in Ballybunion, Co. Kerry.
Amateur Radio operators worldwide will participate in the international event which will see them attempt to make radio contact with special stations set up at the location of former Marconi radio communication stations like the one in Ballybunion.
A certificate is awarded to those Amateur Radio operators who make successful radio contact with a prescribed number of Marconi stations.
The Marconi station in Ballybunnion made history by establishing the first transatlantic voice radio transmission in March 1919 to the Marconi Station located at Louisberg, Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland.
The Kerry Amateur Radio Group have previously participated in this event, making radio contacts with Amateur Radio operators in countries and continents all over the globe including the Falkland Islands, Russia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Africa and America to name a few.
Some details of the event and the history of the Marconi station can be found on the Amateur Radio website QRZ.com at the following address http://qrz.com/db/ei6yxq
Next here on Seascapes to the Kerry village of Ventry where last weekend Ventry Historical Society held a Centenary Commemoration in honour of the O’Rahilly, the dedication ceremony of a marble bench looking out to sea took place last Saturday in glorious weather, originally from Ballylongford, Michael O Rahilly bought a Summer house in Ventry where he and his wife wanted their children to be fluent in the Irish language. The commemoration was a celebration of the life of The O Rahilly, Grainne McPolin went along for Seascapes to meet historian Brendan O Ciobhain ..........
At a special ceremony held on Saturday last, Sligo Bay RNLI officially named its new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Sheila & Dennis Tongue, at its station in Rosses Point. You can see and read more on the Seascapes webpage.....
Peter Killen, a member of the Irish Council of the RNLI, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI before handing her over into the care of Sligo Bay Lifeboat Station. He paid tribute to the donors Sheila & Dennis Tongue who had left a generous legacy to the RNLI in recognition of the vital life-saving work of the charity and as a thank-you for the happy days they spent living on the coast at Exmouth.
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The couple were born in Birmingham in the 1920s and on Dennis’s retirement they moved to Devon where they lived until their eighties, overlooking the coast. The couple did not have any children and it was during their retirement that they came to know and admire the work of the RNLI and recognise its place in the life of the communities it served.
The couple were represented today by their nephews Raymond and Philip Tongue who travelled to Ireland for the special occasion.
Philip had the honour of officially naming the lifeboat during the ceremony which was also attended by the donor family of Elsinore, Sligo Bay’s former lifeboat which during her 13 years on service launched 189 times and brought 155 people to safety.
The new state of the art Atlantic 85 lifeboat was introduced into the RNLI fleet in 2005. The lifeboat is 8.4 metres in length and weighs 1.8 tonnes. Improvements on its predecessor include a faster top speed of 35 knots, radar, provision for a fourth crew member and more space for survivors.
Since the new lifeboat went on service on Sligo Bay in November it has launched four times to call outs.
During the event, Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said the naming ceremony and service of dedication was a wonderful occasion in the history of the lifeboat station, and marked the tremendous generosity of Sheila and Dennis Tongue.
‘It is wonderful to have the opportunity to thank the family directly for this amazing generosity. We assure you that you will always have a warm welcome here among us and we genuinely hope you will come and visit. We also commit to you our utmost dedication in ensuring that this wonderful new lifeboat is indeed a lifesaver in Sligo Bay.’
A lifeboat station was established at Sligo Bay in 1998. Situated at Rosses Point it is flanked by stations at Ballyglass to the south and Bundoran to the north.
In 1998, a D class lifeboat was sent to the station for evaluation and in 1999 an Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-525 Spix’s Macaw was placed on temporary station duty on 12 March.
An Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-512 US Navy League was placed on station on the 26 October.
On the 2 February 2002, B-781 Elsinore, an Atlantic 75 class, was put on service.
The new lifeboat, an Atlantic 85 and the latest version of the B class, was placed on service on the 19 November last year.
A crowd of well-wishers turned up to see the lifeboat officially named today with a bottle of champagne poured over the side of the boat before it launched at the end of the ceremony.
This summer Sailing In Dublin Club are planning to cruise right around Ireland on their club yacht "Silver Wind", with a number of weeks on the South, West and North Coasts of Ireland. If you are interested in joining them for a week or more contact [email protected]
Also artist Brian Palm has an exhibition in Duke Street Gallery running until the end of May on “The Myths of the Helga” which was opened last Thursday by Commodore Hugh Tully, Flag Officer Commanding, The Naval Service and attended by His Excellency Dominick Chilcott, British Ambassador to Ireland......you can see more on the Seascapes webpage ......
