Advertise on podcast: Seascapes

Fergal Keane visits the Coastguard station in Valentia Island in County Kerry. Valentia is one of the main marine search and rescue centres in the county and plays a major role in rescue efforts right along the south west coast.We also hear from Owen Brislin about how the station operated.

Seascapes this week comes from the Ireland on the Water Expo. We hear from Olympic gold medal rower, Fintan McCarthy, ambassador for the event. We hear from Bloom Field House Boats. Madeline Kelly tells us about women in angling. We hear about the solar powered boat Grid Buster, Atlantic Costal Cruises and CH Marine on paddle boards.

Lorna Siggins reports from the recent Skipper Expo in Limerick and also meets the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue. Fergal Keane hears about a new pier in Howth which has just been opened for large trawlers. Chief Engineer at the Department of Agriculture and Marine, Noel Clancy, speaks about the new pier.

Author Jon Gower chats about his new book, The Turning Tide, A Biography of the Irish Sea. It is a facinating mix of travelogue, nature and history of the stretch of water which separates us from Wales. Also, Joanna McNicholas reports on the worrying increase in the numbers of Loggerhead Turtles which are being washed up on the Irish Coast.

Senator Sean Kyne speaks about the ongoing crisis in Inland Fisheries Ireland, where the Minister for Environment this week removed the last remaining board members, on a no fault basis. We also hear about the annual Seafarers Conference and the Skipper Expo.

We hear how the number of Navy ships available for active service has dropped dramatically. Norman Freeman remembers how he was recruited from maritime college in Dublin to join the Marconi company as a radio officer. And Andrew Crowley of Sherry Fitzgerald auctioneers in Westport, tells us about the lighthouse on Clare Island is for sale.

We the fishing port of Casatletownbere in West Cork to hear about the de-commissioning scheme for fishing trawlers. We also pay tribute to Captain Brendan Forde who died recently, aged 90. And we hear about the adventurers of Conor O'Brien, who became the first man to sail the Irish Tricolour around the world.

Fergal Keane visits a troop of Sea Scouts on Bull Island in Dublin. Also, Norwegian adventurer, Astrid Furholt was the first woman to ski to the South Pole and she spoke to Lorna Siggins.

Seascapes, the RTÉ maritime programme with Fergal Keane. Seascapes brings you around our coasts and onto traditional and modern boats and yachts for a taste of the great outdoors.

Fergal meets windsurfer Oisin Van Gelderen, who holds the Irish speed record for windsurfing. Norman Freeman has the story of how a Frenchman conducted an experiment to drift across the Atlantic on a dinghy and survived by living off the sea. And a new Study into Ireland's Ocean Economy has found that the sector shrunk during Covid.

We hear from the programme maker of the TV series, The Great Lighthouses of Ireland, David Hare. We also hear from the Chief Executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, Patrick Murphy, about a decommissioning scheme which will see one third of all Irish trawlers over 15 metres in length scrapped.

Joanna McNicholas reports form the Erris Peninsula on recent dolphin strandings. Norman Freeman recalls meeting a ships captain who fell on to difficult times after his ship was wrecked. And we talk to outgoing Chief Executive of the Irish Sailing Association, Harry Hermon.