Two excellent images created by local photographers are among the top 50 to be shortlisted by the judges of this year’s ”Love Your Coast” photography competition.
Adrian McCarthy took third place in the People and the Coast category for his photo “Saviour of the Sea” that was taken on Clogherhead Beach while Dave Stanley captured an amazing shot of swimmers taking a winter dip at Laytown Beach.
When asked about the photograph Adrian said: “On a blustery day in June 2019, the RNLI 13-31 Shannon Class Lifeboat arrives at it’s new home in Clogherhead Lifeboat Station, where it is welcomed by the community and given it’s new name ‘The Michael O’Brien”.
“Named in Honour of Michael O’Brien, who was a volunteer coxswain with the service, and like Michael, all the men and women who will crew this Lifeboat are volunteers who risk their lives on a regular basis to save others. They are the real ‘Saviours of the Seas.”
Also among the 50 best shots shortlisted by the Love Your Coast judges was “Winter Sunset Swim” (below) taken by Dave Stanley at Laytown Beach for the People and the Coast category of the competition.
“I hadn’t intended on photographing the swimmers on this icy cold January evening” Dave said. “But as I saw the camaraderie and support as they emerged from the water with the snow-capped Mourne Mountains in the background I quickly mounted the camera on the tripod.
“The image captures the tremendous bonds of friendship in the hardest of times. These sea maidens daily enchant the passers-by with their laughter and song.”
The Love Your Coast competition is an integral part of the Clean Coasts programme run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life.
Ireland has some of the most spectacular and diverse coastlines in the world. For the past 12 years, the ‘Love Your Coast’ competition has been about capturing the essence of the Irish coastline, its beauty, and its diverse character.  
Clean Coasts’ mission is to foster pride in our coastline and waterways and each year the Love Your Coast competition is an opportunity to see this reflected in the entries.
Almost 1,300 entries were received for the Love Your Coast 2021 competition, – the most entries the competition has had to date.
Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast Photography awards were held virtually for the second year in a row, where the winning photographers for the Love Your Coasts Photography competition were announced.
The competition had a prize fund of €5,000 for the amateur photographers competing in five categories: Coastal Heritage, Coastal Landscape, People & the Coast, Wildlife & the Coast and the introduction of a brand-new Love Your Coast Category for 2021, Creativity and the Coast.
Michael John O’Mahony, director of the Environmental Education Unit said: “This is more than just a photography competition: we are an island nation and our coast and marine environment are incredibly important to us.
“Clean Coasts has almost 2,000 volunteer groups who are doing amazing work when it comes to managing and protecting our marine environment, so these photographs are a way for everybody to appreciate and celebrate our coast and be inspired to get involved too.”
