12 Jul 2022

The Marine Institute and the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) at NUI Galway, are conducting a survey of marine and marine-related businesses as part of the regular reporting on Ireland’s Ocean Economy. Although the CSO and other State organisations provide some data on marine related economic activity, there is a need to supplement this data […]

14 Jun 2022

Legislation covering marine protected areas (MPAs) is “almost complete” and will set an ambition for 30% of Irish waters to be designated, Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan has said. Mr Noonan was speaking after a report from a broad coalition of Irish environmental groups found that a mere 2.1% were MPAs, compared to 10% on average in the […]

05 Apr 2022

Press release from Ireland’s Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: ‘Public consultation demonstrates strong support for expansion of Marine Protected Areas The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has today published the results of an independent review and analysis of its extensive public consultation undertaken on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The government aims […]

08 Jun 2021

Liabhán chor gréine, or the Great Fish of the Sun, more prosaically known as basking sharks, occupy Irish territorial waters and its EEZ throughout the year. The global population of breeding individuals has been estimated at approximately 8,000-10,000 worldwide, a high proportion of which may at times be present in Irish waters. Basking sharks are protected in […]

20 Apr 2021

An investigation by the EU, shared with Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine late last year, concluded that fishery controls were “unsatisfactory”.   As a result, the country faces losing tens of thousands of tonnes from its fishing quota and around €40m in funding annually. The investigation reported that, during a four-year period, 33 cases of […]

07 Oct 2020

Pollution from farming increases massively from a planned surge dairy farming plan. Guardian ‘Ireland is experiencing a water pollution crisis. A lack of investment in managing sewage is part of the story: half of urban wastewater treatment plants don’t meet minimum EU standards, while raw sewage from 77,000 people across Ireland flows into the environment every day. […]

07 Oct 2020

Pollution from farming increases massively from a planned surge dairy farming plan. Guardian ‘Ireland is experiencing a water pollution crisis. A lack of investment in managing sewage is part of the story: half of urban wastewater treatment plants don’t meet minimum EU standards, while raw sewage from 77,000 people across Ireland flows into the environment every day. […]

12 Nov 2018

A team of marine scientists have discovered a very rare shark nursery, 200 miles west of Ireland while investigating Ireland’s deep ocean territory. This rare occurrence was discovered during a recent SeaRover survey by the Marine Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Holland 1 deployed onboard the ILV Granuaile. For more information on this survey visit […]