Sinead McCoy
smccoy@eeu.antaisce.org
01 4002228
0871347950
Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast
Photography Awards 2015
A Breathtaking Photographic Display – Stunning Images of Ireland’s Coastline Projected onto Bolands Mills
Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast Photography Awards were held on Thursday 14th October in Waterways Ireland Visitors Centre, Docklands, Dublin. Patricia Oliver, former Director of the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, presented the prizes to the winning photographers. The top images from this year’s competition 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 €5,000 it attracted huge interest from Ireland’s amateur photographers. There are five categories in the competition; Coastal Heritage, Coastal Landscape, People & the Coast, Wildlife & the Coast and Underwater.
Speaking at the Clean Coasts Awards Ceremony, Patricia Oliver said, “Ireland is fortunate to have some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the world. This competition encourages people to look anew at the beaches and coastal landscapes we sometimes take for granted. The overall mission of the Clean Coasts programme is to celebrate and preserve Ireland’s spectacular coast, and this competition is central to that effort as it gives people a chance to show their local coastline at its best.”
The difficult task of judging this year’s competition was undertaken by Easkey Britton – pro surfer/Clean Coasts Ambassador, Jim Wilson – writer/photographer/broadcaster, Philip Donovan – Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Ciara Cashen – Coca-Cola, Eoin McDonnell – Failte Ireland and Micheal John O’Mahony – Director, Environmental Education Unit, An Taisce.
Ciara Cashen, Public Affairs & Communications Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland remarked, “The photography entered to the Love Your Coast Awards this year was of an incredibly high standard and really captured the unique charm of the Irish coastline. The winning images depict a sense of pride in our coastline and celebrate the beauty and enjoyment the people of our island nation get from this cherished natural resource.”
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 Sinead McCoy
smccoy@eeu.antaisce.org
01 4002228
WINNERS 2015
| People & The Coast | ||
| 1 | Pat Carey | The Bull Wall |
| 2 | Nigel Motyer | A Dolphins Welcome |
| 3 | Breda Diggins | Watching Ballybunion |
| Wildlife | ||
| 1 | Donal Power | Seagull fishing on the shore after stormy weather |
| 2 | Pat Carey | Swanlake at Malahide |
| 3 | Bren Whelan | Basking Shark Breaching |
| Landscape | ||
| 1 | Kieran Russell | Tra Na Mbo Lightning |
| 2 | John Collins | First Light, Bandon Estuary |
| 3 | Pawel Zygmunt | The Cave |
| Heritage | ||
| 1 | Reuben Fields | Baltray Shipwreck |
| 2 | Ronan McLaughin | Knockadoon Milkyway |
| 3 | Brendan Cullen | Doonagore Castle |
| Underwater | ||
| 1 | Nigel Motyer | A Common Seal explores the Island Shallows |
| 2 | Andrew Keegan | Inner Space |
| 3 | Maja Stankovski | The Beauty of Bluefire Jellyfish |