Tom MacSweeney's Seascapes

Sally Barnes has been operating Woodcock Smokery at Castletownshend in West Cork for fifty years, the traditional art of smoking wild fish. On the March edition of SEASCAPES she challenges official attitudes to fishermen and to coastal communities, is concerned about new salmon regulations and says it is “utterly heartbreaking” that, for a country that is an island, surrounded by productive and fertile waters, the possibilities of making livelihoods from the sea have been given away. Also on the Podcast, Joe Walsh in Ballycotton discusses his new project at Paulona Seafoods – Ireland’s first online auction selling Irish fish. Hosted on Acast.

This month’s Podcast reports on the major problem affecting development of Ireland’s aquaculture sector – delays in licencing which have been going on for many years. Despite that the rest of the ocean economy is growing and a major contributor to national welfare, as the programme also reports. There is also a report on the new currach training programme for young people in Cork and the story of how Brendan Behan did not keep a job with the Commissioners of Irish Lights. Hosted on Acast.

This and other stories – from the amazing smallest seabird which travelled 300,000 kms and has a connection to St.Peter to the enthusiastic Rosslare Maritime group;, an offer to young people to go sail training – and to some older people too; – and the sea tragedy song which saved a thousand lives. All form the storylines on the first edition of SEASCAPES in 2026 Hosted on Acast.

Oysters are heroes, says the lady who has grown them for 35 years in Dungarvan Harbour - Cliona Mhic Giolla Chuda General Manager and co-Founder of Waterford Oysters. “They are underestimated, they are climate heroes. It’s an intensive business,” she tells SEASCAPES in the December Podcast, as her company celebrates 35 years exporting to countries around the world. “It’s not for the faint-hearted because there are bad years as well as very good years, but overall I really enjoy it.” Also on this month’s Podcast: •The Irish Polar Institute corrects a ‘mean action’ by Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton •A new association wants more schools to encourage sailing •An Arctic whale arrives in Donegal •And the crewman from an inland county who survived the Titanic Hosted on Acast.

This month’s SEASCAPES Podcast highlights the work of marine pilots, who guide ships safely into and from our ports, carrying over 90 per cent of the country’s exports and imports. Also on the Podcast - Why has the Government reduced funding in the Budget to fishing by nearly €20m. and– the shortage of seafarers. There is an urgent need to recruit more. Hosted on Acast.

Inshore fishermen, fishing from small boats, are a core of coastal communities, but face huge challenges. Will they survive? Also on the Podcast – Otters are declining in Ireland and dockers in Dublin want to honour a hero. Hosted on Acast.

On the September edition – a sailor spends ten years restoring a Folkboat, then sells it; the RNLI needs Volunteers and Ireland has 750,000 seabird visitors. Hosted on Acast.

On this month's edition - Has the Government Got the Backbone to Fight for Irish Fishing? That is a tough question, but it is asked on this month’s SEASCAPES Podcast. Hosted on Acast.

The ship’s engineer who first arrived in Cork with the Dutch Smit Tak company for the development of the Kinsale Head Gas Field and stayed to run a marina, Wieste Buwalda, one of the most iconic figures in the marine sector, outlines the challenges of 40 years in the business as he retires, selling the marina to next door neighbour, the oldest yacht club in the world, the Royal Cork at Crosshaven. He discusses the difficulties of getting foreshore licences, bureaucracy in the Department of the Marine and why there should be more enjoyment in the sport of sailing. Hosted on Acast.

This month’s podcast features two families, one from Cork which has invested in a multi-million Euro seafood centre and another whose members have given 140 years of service driving cranes in Waterford Port. The Good family traces its maritime history back to running a ferry boat in Cork Harbour. The O’Hanlon’s work high above ships in Waterford to keep exports and imports moving. Hosted on Acast.

Ireland's maritime sector must be made to benefit all the people of the nation, says the Chairman of the first Oireachtas Committee set up specifically for maritime affairs. Waterford Sinn Fein T.D., Conor McGuinness, tells the SEASCAPES Podcast that the Committee has a "wide remit" and he intends to use it fully. Hosted on Acast.

“There’s a wonderful vibrancy around the marine sector at the moment…..” Those aren’t my words – they were spoken to me by Minister of State Timmy Dooley in his summary of the overall marine sphere In his first interview after two months in a dual maritime and fisheries post, which you can hear on this month’s SEASCAPES Podcast. Also, a discussion between the two sides of wind farm development and its effects on the fishing industry; €25m. spent by a Cork shipping company on a new survey vessel and – is the Irish public ocean literate? Hosted on Acast.

Remembering a submarine explosion 105 years ago. Also on this edition – Fish Farming will be a vital supplier of food to future generations … Are whales changing which parts of Ireland they visit and the Waterford Estuary harbour which has changed, but not for the better….. Hosted on Acast.

The “insane” treatment of Ireland’s fishermen.” “The way the Irish fishing industry is treated about Bluefin Tuna is insane,” says John Shine, a leading figure for 20 years in the marketing and selling of Irish fish, highlighting that Irish fishermen are prevented from catching Bluefin Tuna in Irish waters, while other nations are allowed to do so. Hosted on Acast.

On this edition of the maritime programme, SEASCAPES, presented by Tom MacSweeney,the Polish solo sailor who is Ireland’s only representative in what is being described as “a world first event, never attempted before …” explains why he intends to spend over a year sailing 26,000 miles alone around the world on a 19-foot plywood boat which he has built himself….. The Managing Director of a Valentia Island boatyard discusses how it has built the first Naval vessel in Ireland for forty years…. and a sailmaker explains why he built a maritime cannon …. Hosted on Acast.