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Displaying items by tag: Agreement Reached

An agreement has been reached says the Isle of Man Steam Packet, with the union representing its officers, in resolving the issue regarding terms which the ferry operator said they must live aboard the fleet at times.

According to Manx Radio, the company hasn't said what the agreement with the union, Nautilus International is, and whether officers will live aboard at times or not.

The Steam Packet’s Managing Director, Brian Thomson said: "We are pleased that our Officers and Nautilus brought solutions to our negotiations that have enabled us to reach a positive and fair agreement that ensures that we can continue to deliver a high-quality service to our customers."

He added, "We would like to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication during this period. We can now focus on delivering the reliable and quality service that our passengers expect and deserve on board our vessels which are the envy of the Irish Sea."

The Government owned company says the flagship Manxman, introduced last year, was designed for live aboard, and the practice allows for more flexibility and resilience to the sailing schedule.

Union members in December, had objected to the proposals and subsequent industrial action, coupled with poor weather, caused disruption over the busy Christmas and New Year periods.

The radio station has contacted the Steam Packet and Nautilus to find out more about the agreement, following the dispute of recent years.

Published in Ferry

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)