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Displaying items by tag: Great Lighthouses

#Lighthouses - It is more than eight weeks ago when Bobby Kerr, Chair of Great Lighthouses of Ireland helped kick off summer in fine style when he announced the ‘Great Lighthouse, Great Fun’ photography competition.

The competition was held to invite all to discover the amazing coastlines of Ireland, the challenge was simple: take a photograph that best captures and expresses the best of summer fun at a lighthouse. 

“We had a huge number of entries, all a fantastic reflection of Ireland in summer... it was a challenging task for our judges to select (a) final ten, then five and (lastly) the winner,“ Kerr said.

“The winning image of Gar Heffernan holding Hook (Lighthouse) in his hands captured the essence of summer fun at our lighthouses. Well done, Gar. We look forward to meeting you,” said Kerr.

Gar and his family will enjoy a fantastic bespoke Great Lighthouses of Ireland experience for four people, which will include:

  • A two-night stay at any of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland self-catering houses
  • A personal tour with our leading storykeeper at any of our lighthouse attractions
  • A unique opportunity to meet the Irish Lights historian at Howth’s Baily Lighthouse to learn all about the history and heritage of Irish Lights
  • A chance to meet the Irish Lights team and learn more about how navigational aids work today

Speaking from SeaFest, Galway, Yvonne Shields, Chief Executive of Irish Lights said: “We look forward to welcoming our ‘Great Lighthouse, Great Fun’ winner and guests to Irish Lights to see the work involved in ensuring safe navigation around the coast of Ireland and (to) meet the team, whose technical and engineering expertise contributes to the development of our maritime economy. This weekend, we encourage all to come on board the Granualie at Seafest.” (See related ships on show tours).

Great Lighthouses of Ireland is an exciting collaboration between many private and public organisations in coastal communities, led and supported by Irish Lights. For event details and information about and booking Great Lighthouses of Ireland, see: www.greatlighthouses.com/shine-a-light

Twitter: @gtlighthouses | https://twitter.com/gtlighthouses

Facebook: @greatlighthousesofireland | https://www.facebook.com/greatlighthousesofireland

For full details and the competition terms and conditions, click this link here.

Published in Lighthouses

#Lighthouses - To kick off summer, Great Lighthouses of Ireland invite you to the 'Shine a Light on Summer' Festival this May Bank Holiday weekend and to take part in a 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photographic competition to capture the best of summer fun at one of their great lighthouses.

To get a glimpse of all the great summer fun you can have at the Great Lighthouses of Ireland, watch this short video.

Shine a Light on Summer Festival

Shine A Light on Summer Festival is taking place from top to toe on the island of Ireland at five of our Great Lighthouses – at Fanad Head in the wilds of Donegal, at Hook the world's oldest working lighthouse in Wexford, at the majestic Loop Head and on the islands of Rathlin in the north and Valentia in the south west.

Be blown away by what you'll see, experience and discover at each site over the weekend. Meet fascinating lighthouse Storykeepers. Enjoy their tales of maritime marvels and nature's wonder, of heroic feats and the lightkeeping life. Discover crafts and traditions of times past and learn about modern coastal technology too.

Find out more by visiting this link. 

'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' Photography Competition

As part of our Shine A Light On Summer Festival, we are launching our 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photography competition.

We invite you to take a photograph that best captures and expresses summer fun at one of our Great Lighthouses of Ireland and enter it into our 'Great Lighthouse, Great Fun' photography competition.

The competition winner will enjoy a fantastic personal Great Lighthouses of Ireland experience for four people, including:

  • A two-night stay at any of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland self-catering houses
  • A personal tour with our leading 'storykeeper' at any of our lighthouse attractions
  • A unique opportunity to meet the Irish Lights historian at Howth's Baily Lighthouse for a chance to see and learn all about the history and heritage of Irish Lights
  • A chance to meet the Irish Lights team and learn more about how aids to navigation work today

This fantastic competition opens on Friday 4th May and closes on Wednesday 20th June 2018. To enter, simply post your photo on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #GreatLighthouseGreatFun.

For full details and the competition terms and conditions, see this link :

Great Lighthouses of Ireland Chairperson, This , will announce the lucky winner during the Seafest www.seafest.ie on Saturday 30th June 2018.

Published in Lighthouses

National Watersports Campus, Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Stakeholders combined forces in 2019 to promote a project to improve the Harbour’s infrastructure resulting in improved access, job creation and greater tourism potential. 

A grant application to government made by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) assisted by stakeholders was successful with the announcement of a €400k feasibility study grant from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) in January 2020.

It meant plans for the €8m National Watersports Campus at Dun Laoghaire Harbour got the green light from Government and came a step closer to reality.

The project recognises deficits in the current set up in the harbour, proposing the construction of an all-tide publicly-accessible slipway (none currently in the Greater Dublin Area) as well as a marine services facility, providing a much-needed home for the supporting industry. 

The campus also seeks to provide a marketing framework to make boating more accessible to the general public.

The benefits of such an increase might be obvious for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront but there are other spin-offs for the harbour town in the creation of the sort of jobs that cannot be shipped abroad.

Centre for Community Watersports activity and public slipway

  • High-Performance coaching centre
  • Flexible Event Space for hosting national and international events
  • Multipurpose Building
  • Campus Marketing and Promotional Centre
  • Accommodation for Irish Sailing and Irish Underwater Council
  • Shared NGB Facility
  • Education Centre for schools, community groups and clubs
  • Proposed site – Carlisle Pier

Watersports Campus FAQs

Similar to the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, the watersports campus will provide quality, public, recreational and high-performance facilities for the many watersports participants. The Campus will considerably enhance the services currently provided by more than 30 clubs and activity centres to over 50,000 annual users of the harbour.

The passing of control of the harbour to DLRCC, the public appetite for a community benefitting project and the capital funding for sports infrastructure in the Project 2040 National Plan have aligned to create an opportunity to deliver this proposal.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) and the Irish Sailing Association (Irish Sailing) are the project leads, endorsed by the National Governing Bodies of other Irish watersports and clubs and activity providers.

The National Sports Policy, published in 2018, established the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) to provide Exchequer support for sports facility projects. In some cases, these may be projects where the primary objective will be to increase active participation in sport. In other cases, these may be venues where the focus is more related to high-performance sport.

Government has allocated at least €100m over the term to 2027 to successful applicant projects.

The Watersports Campus was one of seven successful applicants for Stream 1 funding allowing planning to commence on the project design and feasibility. €442,000 has been granted in this phase.

NThe project will provide for a municipally-owned public access facility to include a small craft slipway that is accessible at all stages of the tide (currently none in public ownership in the greater Dublin area), storage and lock-up resources, watersports event management space, a high-performance centre and NGB accommodation.

The project aims to enhance the profile of Dun Laoghaire as a major international venue for maritime events, shows and conferences. Establish Dun Laoghaire as the 'go-to place' for anything marine – generating revenues Create employment in the county - attract businesses, visitors and events. Grow the market for watersports Promote the services of activity providers to the public. Complement the plan to develop Dun Laoghaire as a 'destination.'

As of January 1 2021, The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has approved the applicant project and DLRCC are expected to appoint a team to further advance the project.

©Afloat 2020