Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#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…

#marinetourism – Yet another Failte Ireland Marine Research initiative is taking shape to examine the coastal infrastructure for leisure sailors of all kinds, and how facilities might be developed to attract visitors from abroad, while better serving the home fleets.…

#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…

#marinetourism – Ireland's south coast provides an almost infinite variety of harbours, natural havens, and extensive areas of interesting sailing water. These cater for boat enthusiasts of all kinds, with craft of every type. So how does the welcome for…

#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…

#rorcsrbi – For twelve days, Ireland's sailing and maritime community followed with bated breath while the fortunes of Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive with the First 36.7 Lula Belle waxed and waned in the storm-tossed 1802-mile RORC Sevenstar Round Britain…

#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…

#lagoon52 – We've had enough of recession with its blighting effect on Ireland's marine industry. W M Nixon assembled a team who've kept going through thick and thin, and went sailing with them this week on a new vessel which…

#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…

#strangfordlough – Strangford Lough is one of Ireland's most important sailing locations, yet it is surprising how few sailors from other areas have savoured its unique attractions. W M Nixon tries to explain why this is so, and delves into…

#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…

If you've ever team-raced for "The Book" between Sutton Dinghy Club and a team from Cork Harbour, then you'll know that it is Irish sailing's Book of Kells, inaugurated seventy years ago with the winning team obliged to inscribe the…

#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…

#rorcbdcc – Ireland's convincing international victory in the Brewin Dolphin Commodore's Cup has been the perfect tonic for a sailing community discouraged by economic recession. W M Nixon meets the winning Team Captain and shoots the breeze about how it was…

#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…