Photos By Maura Hickey
Clean Coasts is inviting people across Ireland to declare their love for the coast this Valentine’s Day as the Love Your Coast Photography Competition opens for entries on 14 February 2026.
To mark the launch of this year’s competition, Clean Coasts recently visited Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey for a special promotional photoshoot with the 2025 overall winner, Maria Quigley. Joined by Bobby Gordon, the subject of her winning image, Maria returned to the very spot where her standout photograph was captured a year earlier. Set against the backdrop of the harbour, the shoot reflected on the lasting impact of that moment and highlighted how a single photograph can tell a powerful story about place, community, relationships and responsibility.
Now in its 17th year, the Love Your Coast competition continues to attract hundreds of photographers from across the country. Once again aligned with Valentine’s Day, the competition encourages photographers to fall in love with Ireland’s coastline and capture its beauty, character and importance.
This year’s theme is Impact. Clean Coasts is asking participants to explore the evolving relationship between people, nature and the coast through their lens. The theme invites reflection on both the positive and negative ways oceans, waterways and shorelines are shaped by human activity and natural forces, and how these environments in turn influence our lives, wellbeing and communities. From conservation and care to pollution and climate pressures, photographers are encouraged to capture how coastal spaces are affected by our actions and how time spent by the sea affects those who visit.
The competition offers a total prize fund of 5,000 euro for category winners and provides an opportunity for photographers to showcase their work across five categories:
- Coastal Landscape
- People and the Coast
- Source to Sea
- Wildlife and the Coast
- Underwater
These categories celebrate Ireland’s unique coastline, from dramatic cliffs and golden beaches to vibrant communities, marine wildlife and maritime heritage. Entries must have been taken within the last 24 months.
To support entrants, Clean Coasts will publish guidance and tips from competition judges on its website in the coming weeks. Entries open on 14 February 2026 and close on 15 May 2026.
The competition is supported by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and Fáilte Ireland.
Tim Nuttall of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said: “The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment is proud to be part of An Taisce’s Love Your Coast photography competition, which features as one of the annual highlights of their Clean Coasts programme. The message of caring for our marine environment along with the high-quality images themselves which showcase the enormous range of marine biodiversity and seascapes is one which we are more than happy to support.
Shane Dineen of Fáilte Ireland said: Fáilte Ireland is once again delighted to support the Love Your Coast Photography competition for 2026. The rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, Irish, and Celtic seas make for endlessly changing sights, and when combined with our unpredictable weather provide delight and surprise for locals and visitors alike. The imagery from the photographers each year plays an important role in highlighting the diverse marine wildlife and our maritime heritage on our island. We wish the very best of luck to all entrants as they capture the essence of the Irish coastline.
Bronagh Moore, Clean Coasts Programme Manager, said: “Every year we look forward to seeing the stunning images that are entered into this competition. We have hugely talented photographers in this country and an amazingly diverse coastline as a subject, so it’s an honour to be able to showcase their work and our beautiful coastline through this competition. With ‘impact’ as our theme this year, I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which photographers capture how our actions have both positive and negative impact on the coast.
For more information about Love Your Coast and to submit your entries, please visit https://cleancoasts.org/our-initiatives/love-your-coast/
