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Displaying items by tag: Imports

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said imports from Britain fell by almost two thirds in January after the UK left the European Union.

The latest trade statistics from the CSO reveal an immediate Brexit impact with the value of imports falling by 65 per cent - from €1.4 billion to €497 million - in January compared to the same month last year.

The fall-off was driven by declines in imports of food and live animals (-75 per cent) and mineral fuels (-71 per cent).

The CSO said a combination of factors contributed to the large reduction in imports from the Britain in January, including the challenges of complying with customs requirements.

Other factors included the stockpiling of goods in the final quarter of 2020 in preparation for Brexit, the substitution with goods from other countries, and a reduction in trade volumes due to the impact of Covid-19.

For more including on exports, reports The Irish Times here.

Published in Ports & Shipping

A plan to store fracked gas in Cork could be illegal a Cork TD has claimed.

It comes as more than 2,000 signatures writes EchoLive.ie, have been gathered on an online petition opposing the potential Cork Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal.

If it goes ahead, fracked gas from the United States would be imported into Cork harbour.

In 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Port of Cork with US company NextDecade as Afloat previously reported..

It could see an LNG terminal built, using a floating storage and regasification unit.

An online petition was created by the group ‘Not Here Not Anywhere’ who are a grassroots campaign against drilling for oil and gas off the Irish coasts and the development of any new fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland.

For more click here 

Published in Cork Harbour

#NewsUpdate - A delivery of the first imported animal feed in response to the deepening - and now nationwide - fodder crisis has arrived in Rosslare Harbour.

The feed reports RTE News, which has been imported from Britain, will then be distributed by Dairygold Co-Op to ten locations around Munster.

Further significant imports are scheduled for the coming days, with Glanbia and Lakeland Dairies saying that they have also sourced animal feed abroad for their members.

The Dairygold Co-Op executives who sourced and organised the first 2,500 tonnes of animal feed in response to the deepening weather-related shortage are attempting to locate even more supplies to distribute to their farmer members.

Seamus O'Mahoney, Head of Sales at Dairygold Argi Business, said around 3,500 bales are expected to arrive at Rosslare Port over the next two to three days.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said imports from the UK were inevitable given the current situation facing farmers.

"We have been seeing over the last few months that farmers have been trying to stretch existing fodder and we have had a very long winter, two storms, a late spring. Farmers didn’t have a chance to put out fertiliser and all of those factors didn’t click," he said.

Click HERE for more on the farming crisis.

Published in News Update

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Winter Series

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot Series reached its 20th year in 2020.

The popular yacht series racing provides winter-racing for all the sailing clubs on the southside of Dublin Bay in the run-up to Christmas.

It regularly attracts a fleet of up to 70 boats of different shapes and sizes from all four yachts clubs at Dun Laoghaire: The National Yacht Club, The Royal St. George Yacht Club, The Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as other clubs such as Sailing in Dublin. Typically the event is hosted by each club in rotation.

The series has a short, sharp format for racing that starts at approximately 10 am and concludes around noon. The event was the brainchild of former DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns to give the club year-round racing on the Bay thanks to the arrival of the marina at Dun Laoghaire in 2001. Cairns, an IRC racer himself, continues to run the series each winter.

Typically, racing features separate starts for different cruiser-racers but in fact, any type of boat is allowed to participate, even those yachts that do not normally race are encouraged to do so.

Turkey Shoot results are calculated under a modified ECHO handicap system and there can be a fun aspect to some of the scoring in keeping with the Christmas spirit of the occasion.

As a result, the Turkey Shoot often receives entries from boats as large as Beneteau 50 footers and one designs as small as 20-foot flying Fifteens, all competing over the same course.

It also has legendary weekly prizegivings in the host waterfront yacht clubs immediately after racing. There are fun prizes and overall prizes based on series results.

Regular updates and DBSC Turkey Shoot Results are published on Afloat each week as the series progresses.

FAQs

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome. Boats range in size from ocean-going cruisers at 60 and 60 feet right down to small one-design keelboats such as 20-foot Flying Fifteens. A listing of boats for different starts is announced on Channel 74 before racing each week.

Each winter from the first Sunday in November until the last week before Christmas.

Usually no more than two hours. The racecourse time limit is 12.30 hours.

Between six and eight with one or two discards applied.

Racing is organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Series is rotated across different waterfront yacht clubs for the popular after race party and prizegiving. The waterfront clubs are National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC) and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC).

© Afloat 2020