Thursday, June 5, 2008

Support the Fishermen!


The Old Blog Cabin today salutes the Irish fishermen (and women) who will strike for their rights in harbours around the Irish coast and in Dáil Éireann.

Fishing communities in this country have been devastated in recent years with a combination of EU rules, quotas and harassment by the authorities, while our territorial waters have been almost emptied of their bounty. The reason, our fisheries were opened to all comers by a shoddy deal with the European Union and Irish fishermen have no chance of competing with their well-financed EU (and non-EU) counterparts who have almost fished out Irish waters.


On top of that the fishermen have to deal with fuel prices rising out of all proportion to reality due to the US financial crisis. It seems strange that the price of a commodity that comes out of a hole in the ground can sky-rocket because Wall Street gets a cold. With the price of oil heading inexorably towards the outrageous price of $2.00 a barrel fishermen are right to be angry.


The Old Blog Cabin wholeheartedly supports the fishermen and their families because they are the backbone of many coastal communities. It also gives one more reason to say No to the new European Constitution (aka the Lisbon Treaty) which will further strengthen the EUs grip on our country.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

QE2 to include Cobh on its farewell voyage


It's quite a few years since the QE2 was here for the fantastic display of sail that was the Tall Ships Race of 1991 when Cork Harbour was host to hundreds of sailing vessels, including the world's biggest a the time. Later this year, on October 1st to be more precise, the QE2 will be back in Cobh for its final visit as part of its farewell tour. After that the great ship will do a few more transatlantic trips before departing for Dubai where it will become a floating hotel. Most of the cabins are already booked out for the final voyages.


Great weekend of song in Cobh

Along with thousands of others I enjoyed a great weekend of song and boats in Cobh the weekend just gone. I didn't get to all the events but the free sessions in the Roaring Donkey (Sunday) and the Hi-Chapperal (Bank Holiday Monday) were fabulous. The atmosphere was electric as groups from Brittany, Poland and England joined with local performers for a mix of sea shanties and traditional music from the three countries and of course Ireland. Some photos here:-