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Displaying items by tag: cruiseship size opposed

#CruiseshipLimit - The Irish Times reports that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown councillors move to limit the size of cruise ships allowed to berth in Dún Laoghaire harbour – effectively banning “supersized” cruise ships – has been opposed by council management.

Members of the local authority voted two-to-one last December to ban cruise ships in excess of 250m long in the local authority’s drafting of the county development plan.

However, in a management response to submissions on the plan the authority’s chief executive Philomena Poole said the ban should be deleted.

Ms Poole’s comments were circulated to councillors on Tuesday. Councillors will get a final vote on whether to include the ban when the development plan is adopted, expected to be in February.

While the management report on the councillors’ proposed prohibition notes a large number of submissions in favour of the proposal, Ms Poole said the harbour was already a protected structure and does not need the additional protection of the ban.

The chief executive’s opposition is significant as Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has applied to An Bord Pleanála for permission for a cruise berth facility of almost 400m and significant dredging inside and outside the harbour walls.

To read more and about the transfer of the harbour to local authority control in accordance to the Harbours Bill, please click here.

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

RORC Points Calendar

The 2019 race was the first edition to form part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club “RORC” calendar for the season. This is in addition to the race continuing as part of the ISORA programme. 

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.