Community Employment (CE) Scheme (19.5 hr p wk) Duties to include: Assisting with the organising of group training sessions (outdoors rowing/paddling on the River Lee), and onshore skills indoors in the training room and/or workshop. Assist in keeping records and in the development and promotion of Meitheal Mara’s water activities programmes through communication, networking and other activities as required.
Community Employment (CE) Scheme (19.5 hr p wk) Duties to include: Cleaning and caretaking of canteen, toilets, offices, hall and stairs. Maintaining hygiene standards. Maintaining stocks of canteen and cleaning supplies. Assisting in management of bins, waste and recycling. Other duties may be assigned as required.
The workshop has been very busy since Christmas with the building of Naomhóga; Dunfanaghys; a Viking Boat and 2 coracles for Tayto Park; and also with doing the annual maintenance of our dragon boats. Seamus, our workshop manager, and a group from Naomhóga Chorcaí are currently building a 4-hand Naomhóg which they hope to have finished by Ocean to City day. Preparations for both the Ocean to City race and the Dragon Boat Challenge keep us very
busy this time of year, and it’s literally all hands on deck. Our community groups in the afternoons are busy too; Building two Dunfanaghys as well as a two-hand Naomhóg which will be used in the Ocean to City race. Curious to see the two Dunfanaghys built by the community groups? Please feel free to join us for the launch at the Clayton Hotel during the Life Long Learning Festival on Wednesday the 5th of April at 2pm.
News from the Men’s Shed
Members of Meitheal Mara’s Men’s Shed continue to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4.30pm and 7.30pm. They are currently completing a unique boat which Dara, a former member, had begun last year and donated to the shed. The lads would welcome anyone who is interested in joining them for an evening. Please contact us if interested.
Fionnbarra-Our Bantry Longboat
Winter is always a busy time for us boaties when lots of maintenance has to be done. We’re pleased to say that work is progressing fast on Fionnbarra. The oars and floorboards have had their last coat of varnish and the inside has had a good scrub. Still plenty of work to do but we’ll continue to meet at the warehouse in Cork for the next two Wednesdays and then it’s LAUNCH DAY, hurray!! We hope to be in the water by the end of March which is always exciting.
Cork Harbour Festival
Now in its third year, the Cork Harbour Festival programme for 2017 is shaping up to be bigger and better than previous years. The flagship event of the festival, Ocean to City – An Rás Mór is at the heart of the festival but we have a raft of other spectacular events on offer. The full programme will be launched in May 2017 and we can already tell that it’ll include a beautiful tall ship. SUPing, cruising, swimming and lots more!
Ocean to City entries flying in!
Early bird registration opened in February and entries from all over Europe have been flying in. Over 70 boats have signed up already, including Banshee, The Wave Walkers, Octopus, Pinks & Panters, and many more. Some of our participants are coming from afar this year, including East Arm Rowing Club USA, Kaag Dragons from The Netherlands, London Port Authority from the UK and many more. We’re thrilled to see our SUP class back again this year too which will be exciting. And guess what – some of our participants are even ROWING all the way down from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour to partake in this year’s race! Registration is open until May so sign up now.
Meitheal Mara Naomhóg featured on the BBC
We were proud to see the beautiful Naomhóg which the workshop made last summer for Crossing the Line Films on tv last Sunday, as part of Wild Ireland: The Edge of the World. The first part, filmed beautifully around the Skelligs, is available on BBC iPlayer. The second and final part of the documentary is on this Sunday 26th March at 8pm on BBC2 NI.
