Annabel FitzGerald
afitzgerald@eeu.antaisce.org
0876169727
Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast
Photography Awards 2014
A Breathtaking Photographic Display – Stunning Images of Ireland’s Coastline Projected onto Bolands Mills
Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast Photography Awards were held on Friday 10th October at 7.30pm in Waterways Ireland Visitors Centre, Docklands, Dublin. Professor John Sweeney, President of An Taisce presented the prizes to the winning photographers. To celebrate 5 years of the Love Your Coast Photography Competition the top images from past years were projected onto Boland Mills in a stunning photographic display that illustrated the wonder of our coast.
Ireland has some of the most spectacular and diverse coastline in the world, Clean Coasts engages communities in protecting these beaches, seas and marine life now and for future generations. Clean Coasts launched the Love Your Coast Photography Competition in May during Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week and with a prize fund of €4,000 it attracted huge interest from Ireland’s amateur photographers. There are four categories in the competition; Coastal Heritage, Coastal Landscape, People & the Coast and Wildlife & the Coast and with thousands of entries the panel of judges had a very difficult task indeed.
Speaking about the stunning photography, Annabel FitzGerald, An Taisce’s Coastal Programmes Manager and event organiser said, “The extensive beauty of Ireland’s coastline has been captured in these amazing photographs. They illustrate the diverse character of our coastline from the iconic Hook Head in Wexford to the emerald cave at Ballybunion, from the beauty beneath the sea to the diver emerging from the waves at Bullock Harbour. These photographs serve as a reminder of the responsibility that we all have in protecting the beauty and diversity of our coastal environment.”
Speaking at the Clean Coasts Awards Ceremony, Professor John Sweeney, President of An Taisce said, “The coast is a critically important environmental asset for Ireland. It’s dynamic nature and ability to respond to pressures both natural and human is excellently exhibited in these photographic entries. An Taisce congratulates those photographers who have captured the essence of the coast and elevated our appreciation of it to an art form.”
An electronic exhibition of Love Your Coast will be displayed at various locations nationally and internationally over the coming months. A gallery of the winning photographs can be found on www.cleancoasts.org or on Facebook/CleanCoasts.
Clean Coasts is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and is supported by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Coca-Cola and Fáilte Ireland.
If you require images in high resolution please contact Annabel FitzGerald afitzgerald@eeu.antaisce.org
WINNERS 2014
People & The Coast |
||
| 1 | Ian Hennessy | Diver at Bullock Harbour, Co. Dublin |
| 2 | Sean Feehan | Rite of Summer, Ballunacourty, Co. Waterford |
| 3 | Ivan Donoghue | Ballindinas Barntown, Co. Wexford |
Wildlife |
||
| 1 | Brendan Cullen | Puffin in Flight, Saltee islands, Co. Wexford |
| 2 | Lucy Hunt | Humpback Whale Tail Slapping, West of the Blaskets, Co Kerry |
| 3 | Damien Mc Guirk | Shrimp Salute, Malinbeg Harbour, Co. Donegal |
Landscape |
||
| 1 | Vincent Coey | White Horses Bearing Down, White Rock, Kiliney, Co. Dublin |
| 2 | Hubert Leszcynski | Cionn Mhálanna, Malin Head, Co. Donegal |
| 3 | Richard Creagh | Emerald Cave, Ballybunion, Co Kerry |
Heritage |
||
| 1 | Des Daly | Abandoned Coastguard Tower, Ardmore, Co. Waterford |
| 2 | Pat Carey | The Slipway, Clontarf, Co. Dublin |
| 3 | Carl Cutland | Dusk at the Hook, Hook Head, Co. Wexford |