In pictures: Fair Seas Film showcasing northwest coast screened in Letterkenny

An award-winning short film that explores the waters from North Donegal to Sligo through the eyes of its coastal communities was shown at a special screening in Letterkenny on Wednesday. Please click on the arrows to go through the gallery

‘Fair Seas: The Atlantic Northwest’ is a 14-minute film featuring the views, stories and insights of local communities who depend on the sea to make a living. It won the Exceptional Merit award at the Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival and was a finalist at the Big Blue Film Festival in Oregon in recent days.

The sold out screening took place at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny. A short update on Marine Protected Areas in Ireland was given by Fair Seas and a panel discussion with community members from the film took place afterwards. There was great interaction and questions form the audience with local dive clubs, surfers and fish producer organisations among those in attendance.

Grace Carr, Marine Advocacy Office with the Irish Wildlife Trust said, “Fair Seas: the Atlantic Northwest’ has been incredibly well received and we were delighted to bring it back to the region for its first Irish in-person screening. The coastal communities of Donegal and Sligo are at the heart of the film and several of the participants joined our panel discussion after the film. We heard from John Shine of Shine’s Seafood, angler Peter MacAuley, scuba dive instructor Aoibheann Gillespie Mules and Auriel Robinson of Seatrails. We are passionate about listening to and telling the stories of coastal communities as we campaign to protect the vital resource that is our ocean.”

‘Fair Seas: The Atlantic Northwest’ was part funded by the Networking and Marine Research Communications Awards, funded by the Marine Institute under the Marine Research Programme with the support of the Irish Government. It was produced by Swimming Head Productions.

The Fair Seas coalition has been campaigning for strong and ambitious legislation committing to effectively protecting 30% of the seas around Ireland by 2030, with 10% strictly protected. The group is calling for stakeholder engagement at every stage, clear delivery timeframes and a robust management framework, with targeted, site-specific measures to ensure MPAs deliver for nature.

Keep an eye out for future screenings of ‘Fair Seas: The Atlantic Northwest’ by following Fair Seas on their social media channels.

 For more information about Fair Seas and to sign the petition calling for Ireland’s MPA legislation to be published without delay  For more information about Fair Seas and to sign the petition calling for Ireland’s MPA legislation to be published without delay visit the website.