Weekly Maritime News and Affairs with Tom MacSweeney
I love Irish history. It is the story of the Irish people, living in an island nation. But I have always wondered about a maritime, a shipping aspect of the Easter Rising, the commemoration of which has raised the profile…
I am a passionate believer in the concept that sailing is ‘a sport for all and a sport for life’. I took to heart a slogan to this effect promoted by the Irish Sailing Association a few years ago. I…
It is my belief that there is a ‘Family of the Sea,’ a community of interest uniting maritime people, from those engaged in the sector professionally, to those who take part in marine leisure activities. Bonding these disparate interests together…
Sailing is, definitely, a ‘sport for life’ but “you have to find a bit of time for it and, if you have a family, don’t let it hog your whole life and try to take your family with you.” Good…
When that lovely piece of music, SAILING BY, rolls from the studio presentation desk through my headphones, I feel a sense of enjoyment at being able to bring a wide tapestry of news, information, stories about the culture, history and…
I have always considered Laser sailors to be tough, particularly when I have seen them battling the elements of Winter weather during Frostbite series. So, standing on the Sand Quay at Monkstown in Cork Harbour, base of my home village…
It is probably only an “eccentric billionaire” who would come up with and finance a plan to build a second Titanic and operate it with a derivative of the name of the company which owned the original ill-fated vessel. Clive…
There is a battle beginning in Cork Harbour which could become nasty and how it turns out will shape the future of what has been described as “the second most beautiful natural harbour in the world.” At issue is €500m…
Listening to a seafarer describe how colleagues from his native town left port on a night of very bad weather, when their Skipper was advised not to go by other Skippers, I thought of how there can be a very…
“Behold the turtle who makes progress, but only when it sticks its neck out.”I like that quotation because I have ‘stuck my neck out” several times in reporting on the marine sphere.I am doing so again now.To judge from comments…
Tara McCarthy has a magnificent view out of her office windows. “You could look out there all day,” she says as we chat in the office on Crofton Road in Dun Laoghaire, looking out on Dublin Bay. Even on a…
My Podcast about membership of sailing and yacht clubs - GETTING MEMBERS IN – INSTEAD OF KEEPING PEOPLE OUT - drew a lot of attention and comment…. It seems to have touched a topic that quite a few people felt…
Not all of our politicians have the necessary awareness and training to understand the daily risks of working and living on an island nation with the coastline, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and canals that have the potential for drowning tragedies…
It’s annual general meeting time and for most sailing clubs one of the big issues will be membership. Some readers and club members may prefer the description ‘yacht’ clubs, but ‘Sailing’ was chosen by the national association a few years ago…
At “the turn of the year” as it is still called by many of the older generation, it is customary to look back at the year past and remember a few high points. There were many for me in compiling…
The world sailing organisation has changed its name – and about time too! The initials, ISAF, had to be explained in the English language as – International Sailing Federation. Having to explain an organisation’s name does it no favours. The…
