Team Ireland win ‘Gold’ at Home Nations International Shore Angling Championships 2014
Team Ireland win ‘Gold’ at Home Nations International Shore Angling Championships 2014
2014 is proving to be a momentous year for shore angling in Ireland with a huge victory by Team Ireland at the Home Nations International Shore Angling Championships which took place on the East Coast of Scotland last weekend. The Senior Mens, Ladies and Under 16's teams all won Gold, while the Under 21’s Youth team took fourth place. This year the Home Nation’s Championships, organised by the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers, were fished over two days of competitions at Montrose, a small town on the east coast of Scotland, approximately thirty miles north of Dundee. The championships are run under the auspices of the Sea Angling Liaison Committee of the United Kingdom and Ireland and all the Irish anglers had fished the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers approved provincial qualifiers and the All Ireland Inter Provincial competitions to get their place on Team Ireland. The championships are one of the highlights of the annual calendar for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and are very competitive with some of the top anglers from each country taking part.
Mens senior team celebrating: Joe Carley, Paul Whelan, Peter Atkins, Mike Curtin, Noel Fogarty, Martin Howlin, Manager John O’Brien
Friday, July 4th was the start of the two day fishing competitions. Fishing proved challenging on Lunan beach for all teams, as conditions were wet, windy and weedy. On day two, the weather improved. The Ladies, Under 21s and Under 16s teams fished the Estuary near Tay bridge in Dundee, which is a muddy estuary with flounder and eels as top catches. The Senior Men’s team fished a rock venue and had mixed bags of codling, rockling and conger eels.
Ladies Team (with Cup) Mary Hyland, Linda Manton, Lisa Gormley, Anne Whitty, Paula Johnston and Manager Jane Cantwell, Anne Whitty, Lisa Gormley.
The success of all the teams is very positive in ensuring a future for shore angling for all in Ireland. This was also the inaugural championship for the Ladies teams as it was the first year that England, Wales Scotland and Ireland all sent Ladies Teams to the championships and the Irish Ladies team were the first to win gold medals at the event, which will prove a big boost for female angling in Ireland.
The teams were supported by Angling Council of Ireland and Inland Fisheries Ireland who are considering further more substantial financial support for International Teams because of the obvious benefits of having top class ambassadors abroad espousing the quality of angling and hospitality in Ireland. The involvement and support from Coaching Ireland and The Irish Sports Council has had obvious benefits, though according to IFSA Chairman Tom Lillis, "It is about time ISC opened the purse strings to get fully behind the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers as we will be hosting two CIPS World Championships in Ireland with a World Boat Championships in 2015 followed by the world Shore Fishing Championships for Men and Women in 2016."
The IFSA would like to congratulate everyone involved for their hard work and dedication and thank the Scottish Federation for their hospitality and friendship.
Team Ireland:
Senior Men's Team: Manager John O'Brien, Team: Mike Curtin, Martin Howlin, Joe Carley, Noel Fogarty, Paul Whelan and reserve Peter Atkins
Ladies Team: Manager Jane Cantwell, Team: Lisa Gormley, Paula Johnston, Mary Hyland, Linda Manton, Anne Whitty
Youth Team/Under 21: Manager Jim SnoddyTeam: Gavin Fogarty, Alan Turner, Cian Egan, Ross Nolan, Nathan Davidson
Under 16 Team: Manager John Kinsella, Team: Eamon Jones, Conor McDermott, Sean Cushin, Ruari Ganley, David Farrelly
For more information contact: chairifsa@gmail.com Website: www.ifsa.ie
