Displaying items by tag: Floating hotel

27th June 2021

Plans for Ireland’s First Floating Hotel Get Go-Ahead

The green light has been given to Ireland’s first floating hotel, as BreakingNews.ie reports.

In May last year Afloat.ie carried news of the proposals to bring a 70m barge to the Lower Bann at Crannagh Marina in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Seamus Carey, owner of the Crannagh Complex, said he was motivated by a “surge” in visitor numbers to his marina before the first COVID-19 lockdown — as well as his disappointment in losing a Mississippi-style paddle steamer that he had first intended as an attraction.

Now Carey has expressed his delight at planners’ approval to moor the barge, which would be fitted out as a four-star hotel with 36 en-suites as well as facilities for dining and functions.

BreakingNews.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in Inland Waterways

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River Bann Could Host Ireland’s First Floating Hotel

The 70m barge in Norway that Seamus Carey wants to bring to the River Bann and refurbish as Ireland’s first floating hotel

Two years after his dream of a riverboat barge on the River Bann was lost to the Irish Sea, a Northern Ireland marina owner is making plans for Ireland’s first floating hotel, as Belfast Live reports.

Seamus Carey, who owns the Cranagh Marina Complex, has filed a planning application for a 70-metre barge he’s found in Norway which he intends to renovate into three-star accommodation with 36 cabins, a restaurant and function room.

He said “surge” in visitor numbers at his marina complex before the Covid-19 lockdown moved him to reflect his plans — which initially sank with the loss of the Mississippi-style paddle steamer MV Oliver Cromwell off the North Wales coast in May 2018.

Belfast Live has more on the story HERE.

Published in Inland Waterways

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Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of. For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water. The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.