News

South Donegal surfers well represented in Sports Star awards

Bundoran – 07/01/2102

Five south Donegal surfers have received nominations for the prestigious Donegal Sports Stars Awards which will be held at a ceremony on January 27^th.

Richard Fitzgerald & Conor Maguire both from Bundoran, Easkey Britton from Rossnowlagh and Maedb McCloskey  from Ballyshannon have been nominated in the “Surfing” category whilst Shane Smyth from Bundoran has been nominated in the “Appreciation” category for his voluntary work as Press Officer on the recent European Surfing Championships event held in the seaside town.

Both Richard and Easkey had an impressive year in 2011 progressing into the final stages of Eurosurf 2011 competing with surfers from 12 other European nations with Easkey gaining international recognition through nomination for Billabong XXL awards.   Conor and Maedb both travelled to Peru to represent their country in the 2011 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in May.

Speaking about his nomination Shane Smyth, Eurosurf Bundoran Press Officer commented “it is an absolute honour for me to be nominated and a shock to be honest.  A group of very dedicated individuals took on the staging of Eurosurf last year – as a lover of surfing and the Bundoran community it was something I was delighted to help out with.  I’m privileged to be nominated among some great and deserving people in these awards.”

The award ceremony takes place at the Silver Tassie Hotel in Letterkenny at the end of the month and has a total of 36 different categories with 156 nominees.

Fellow Bundoran native Richard Fitzgerald said “I’m thrilled to be nominated for this award – 2011 was a great year for Irish surfing with the big wave competition in Mullaghmore and then topped by having the European Surfing Championships on our home turf in Bundoran.  I’m very lucky that I get to work at doing something I really love and it’s great to be recognised with this nomination – I’ve got tough competition in this category with Easkey, Maedb and Conor – whoever wins, it is great for Irish surfing to be recognised.”

Eileesh Buckley, Chairperson of the Irish Surfing Association added “It’s great to see our national surfing representatives gaining recognition in their local communities. Easkey and Richie have represented Ireland at the highest levels over the years both as individuals and as members of national teams. Meadb McCloskey and Conor Maguire are 2 outstanding junior surfers who represented Ireland at the World Junior championships in 2011, with Meadb overcoming a head-injury during the trip to complete participation in her first international event.  Meanwhile Shane Smyth was a stand-out volunteer member of the Eurosurf organising committee putting in endless hours on promotion of the event and coordination with local supporters and sponsors, without his dedicated efforts Eurosurf Bundoran would not have had the profile it had, or have been the success it was. On behalf of the Irish Surfing Association I’d like to congratulate all 5 on their nominations for the Donegal Sports Star Awards”

For more information please contact:

Shane Smyth, Eurosurf Bundoran Press Officer 087 6611022 - shane.smyth@gmail.com

TurfnSurf are recruiting three new Surf Instructors for Season 2012

 Job will run on a part time basis from March till November

 All candidacies must have proof of the following:

• Irish Water safety  / RLSS beach lifeguard award (in date)
• Level one surf instructors
• Child protection certificate
• Permission to work in the Irish State

Preference will be give to candidates with the following

• Over 25 years with full drivers licence
• Female
• Customer service background
• High standard of personal surfing ability

All application should be submitted before the1st of March 2012 to Killian O’Kelly on E-mail info@turfnsurf.ie

Nathan Carter officially launches annual Bundoran Lifeboat Dinner Dance

Ireland’s hottest new name in country music Nathan Carter took time out of his busy schedule on New Year’s Eve to visit Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat station and officially launch the annual Lifeboat Dinner Dance at which he will perform.

The dinner dance is the main fundraising event in Bundoran RNLI’s calendar and is always well attended by locals and visitors alike.  This year it takes place on Friday January 27^th in Bundoran’s Great Northern Hotel – this is also the date for the RNLI’s SOS national fundraising day and events will be held all over Ireland and the UK in order to raise funds for the charity that saves lives at sea.

This is Nathan’s first time to play the dinner dance and he admits he is looking forward to it.  Speaking as he recorded a special promotional video which will appear on Bundoran Lifeboat Station’s Facebook page in the coming days, Nathan said ‘I’m really looking forward to playing the Bundoran Lifeboat annual dinner dance – the RNLI is such a great charity and they do great work to save lives at sea all year round.  I’m excited to see the crowd and no doubt we’ll have a great night’.

Event organiser Cormac McGurren said ‘We’re delighted to have Nathan Carter play at this year’s dinner dance.  He has developed a huge following in just a few years and will no doubt delight the crowd on the night.  Dinner will be served from 8pm on the night and there’ll be spot prizes, dancing and a disco afterwards.  Tickets are on sale now from any Lifeboat crew member’.

Ends

RNLI media contact

For information please contact Shane Smyth, volunteer Bundoran Lifeboat Press Officer on 087 6611022 or Niamh Stephenson, RNLI Divisional Media Relations Manager on 087 125 4124.

The RNLI online

For more information on the RNLI please visit rnli.ie News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI Press Centre rnli.ie/press.

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the Ireland and the UK. The RNLI operates over 230 lifeboat stations with 43 in Ireland. The RNLI is independent of the Coast Guard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 137,000 lives. The RNLI is a charity registered in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Charity number CHY 2678 in the Republic of Ireland and registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SCO37736)

Shane Smyth

Lifeboat Press Officer

Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat

Entertainment lineup has been revealed - http://eurosurfbundoran.com/entertainment/

Headliners are The Undertones who will play Paris on Saturday 1st October, Royseven will play Paris on Saturday 24th September and Kila will play The Astoria Wharf on Friday September 23rd.

As the most of you may know, Bundoran is holding the edition 2011 of the Eurosurf championships this September!

 The town and organizers put up a big effort in adding loads of fun events such as music concerts, films projection, surf art exhibition and more...

 Here are a few of the new updates concerning the films projection that will take place at the event :

Soul Surfer

Wave Riders (Element Pictures)

As the most of you may know, Bundoran is holding the edition 2011 of the Eurosurf championships this September!

 The town and organizers put up a big effort in adding loads of fun events such as music concerts, films projection, surf art exhibition and more...

 Here are a few of the new updates concerning the films projection that will take place at the event :

Soul Surfer

Wave Riders (Element Pictures)