Lorna Siggins
Lorna Siggins is a print and radio reporter, and a former Irish Times western correspondent. She is the author of Search and Rescue: True stories of Irish Air-Sea Rescues and the Loss of R116 (2022); Everest Callling (1994) on the first Irish Everest expedition; Mayday! Mayday! (2004); and Once Upon a Time in the West: the Corrib gas controversy (2010). She is also co-producer with Sarah Blake of the Doc on One "Miracle in Galway Bay" which recently won a Celtic Media Award
MCIB Calls for Review of Boarding and Disembarking Risk Assessments on Fish Farm Vessels
22nd December 2023 MCIB
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has said that boarding and disembarking risk assessment and associated policies and procedures should “immediately be reviewed” after the serious injury of a diver working on salmon farms off the Galway coast. The 33-year-old…
Port of Galway Recognition for EU Ten-T Status Means "Christmas Has Come Early" - Port
22nd December 2023 Galway Harbour
The Port of Galway says that “Christmas has come early” for it, with confirmation that it has been recognised for European TEN-T status. The development has been welcomed by the harbourmaster, Capt Brian Sheridan, and Galway West junior minister and…
Ireland has signed up to a European wind charter to develop offshore and onshore wind. Part of the charter involves signing a voluntary “wind pledge” committing to deliver targets for 2024 to 2026, and pledging indicative targets for 2030 and…
Tomek Ciezki of Heavy Man Films on The Making of the Documentary - Man Versus Ocean
17th December 2023 Wavelength Podcast
When Tomek Ciezki of Heavy Man Films was asked to meet a man who wanted to make a video of his “holiday and travel photos”, he was initially doubtful. However, the footage took him aback – he was stunned by…
Reef sharks were always thought to be in perpetual motion, but a new study suggests sharks can nap or sleep. The study is based on grey reef sharks in the Seychelles, and has been published in the Journal of Fish…
Environmental Network Receives 1.1m Euro In Additional Funds from Government
14th December 2023 Marine Wildlife
An environmental network has been given additional funding of €1.1 million by Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan to “build capacity” in relation to planning for offshore wind. The extra funding of €1.1 million has been approved by the…
MCIB Says Regulations Breached on Fishing Vessel Involved in Serious Deck Injury Incident Off East Coast
14th December 2023 MCIB
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board has recommended that the Minister for Justice should consider carrying out an audit of the crewing arrangements of any fishing vessel or vessels to ensure non-EEA crew are compliant with the rules governing work permits.…
Revised Edition of Northabout Published by Jarlath Cunnane
12th December 2023 Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club
Polar circumnavigator, sailor and boat builder Jarlath Cunnane is marking the publication of a revised edition of his book, Northabout, in Dublin’s Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club next week. Cunnane and crew became the first small yacht to complete the…
Transatlantic Oarsman Damian Browne Embarks on Spoken Word Tour in New Year
9th December 2023 Coastal Rowing
Extreme adventurer Damian Browne is hosting a “spoken word tour” early in the new year on his solo rows across the Atlantic in both directions. Browne, the focus of the documentary Man Versus Ocean broadcast on RTE Television last week,…
Underwater noise levels and movement of marine mammals are being tracked in European waters by a scientific team led by Dr Joanne O’Brien and a team from the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Galway. The devices were deployed in Turkey and…
Ireland’s expenditure of EU Brexit compensatory funding for the seafood sector is to be extended into next year. The so-called Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) was paid by the EU to Ireland and other affected member states to mitigate the impact…
Crossing the Atlantic, Losing a Friendship - Man Versus Ocean Documentary on RTÉ Tonight
6th December 2023 Maritime TV
“Can you see what I see?” “ Land, land motherfxxxxxs…” “Ireland !!! I see you! Finally, the old sod is in site...” The words of transatlantic oarsman Damian Browne on day 108 of his extraordinary effort to row from New…
Renewable Energy Targets for 2030 Won't be Met, Industry Says in WEI Report
5th December 2023 Power From the Sea
Renewable energy businesses believed that planning delays and insufficient grid capacity will prevent Ireland from reaching the 2030 target for renewable energy including offshore wind, a consultancy report says. The KPMG report commissioned by Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) says that…
Irish Coast Guard Accepts and Will "Reflect" on Caitriona Lucas Inquest Jury Recommendations
1st December 2023 Coastguard
The Irish Coast Guard says it accepts the findings made in the inquest into the death of advanced coxswain Caitriona Lucas of its Doolin unit off the Clare coast in September 2016. A statement by the Irish Coast Guard said…
Curlews along the Irish coastline are showing a positive trend, with the highest number of young fledged into the wild since 2017, according to a State conservation programme. A total of 38 breeding pairs have been confirmed in the nine…
Seafood Sector Generates Less Than Two Per Cent Of Ireland's Carbon Emissions - BIM Study
29th November 2023 BIM
The Irish seafood sector has a low carbon footprint, which generates less than 2% of Ireland’s total carbon emissions, according to a Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) study. The report says that total Irish fish catch and aquaculture segments represent just…
New Research Involving TCD Scientist Shows Global Oceans in More Fragile State
29th November 2023 Marine Science
Global oceans could be in a more fragile state than previously apparent, new research published today suggests. An international team involving Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has shown that current de-oxygenation levels are very similar to those that were implicated in…
Exhibition to Mark Commander Bill King's Epic Circumnavigation Opens in Galway City Museum
29th November 2023 Bill King
A new exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the global circumnavigation by yacht by the late Commander Bill King opens in Galway City Museum this week. A display of objects and memorabilia relating to his voyage, loaned by his family…
Water Degradation a Priority of International Climate Research Centre Led by TCD
29th November 2023 Marine Science
“Urgent” research into water degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss on the islands of Ireland and Britain will be led by a new 41.3 million euro climate research centre based at Trinity College, Dublin (TCD). The Climate+ Co-Centre will initially…
How a Mirror on a Paddle Saved The Lives of Divers and an Artist off the Kerry Coast
28th November 2023 Wavelength Podcast
Imagine being on your own on a Blasket island, dependent on several divers to come and collect you – and then their dinghy runs out of fuel. If a fishing vessel hadn’t spotted the reflection of a mirror they had…
