Banter at Shore Shots (106, Apr 2015)

Shore Shots is a two-day festival of surfing which takes place at the Light House Cinema in Dublin taking place on April 11 and 12. The third outing for the festival will feature the best new films, photography, art and adventures from the world of cold water surfing, as well as talks and entertainment from the finest surfers in Europe.

Banter teams up with Shore Shots this year to run the rule over what’s going on with Irish surfing.

Nature means Ireland is on many agendas when it comes to surfing, with those wild, wild swells out west and along our 3,000km of coastline attracting many surfers keen to take on the biggest cold water challenges and enjoy some true soul surfing. When Discover Ireland take an interest in the sport and pimps the attractions of waters from Donegal to Kerry and even Waterford and Wicklow to surfers, you know that the surf is definitely up.

We’ve invited four stalwarts to come along to Shore Shots to talk about the current state of the sport in Ireland. What do they think of Ireland’s rep as a surfing destination? Is it still something of a best kept secret or is the word out? Is there too much focus on attracting international surfers to the detriment of encouraging more domestic fans to come onboard? What are the issues which the local scene face which need to be addressed? Or is everything hunky-dory?

Our panelists:

Peter Conroy – founder member of the Irish Tow Surf Rescue Club. A paramedic and firefighter by day he is also a regular surfer at Ireland’s most infamous big wave spots. Through his association with the Irish Tow Rescue club, Peter has gone from breaking his neck in huge surf to organising rescue training for Irish big wave surfers and making Mullaghmore a slightly safer place to surf and centre for international best practice in surf rescue.

Ed Temperley – editor of Magic Seaweed, Ed is a regular visitor to Shore Shots and his work is essential reading for anyone hoping to progress as a surfer in this country.

Brian Britton – one of the forefathers of Irish surfing, Brian helped set up the Irish Surf Association way back in 1969. Since then, he has been instrumental in every development in Irish surfing, from major international tournaments to developing young surfers and introducing training standards at surf schools around the country.

Henry Moore – chairman of the Irish Surfing Association

Banter details: Banter on surfing takes place at the Light House Cinema, Dublin on Saturday April 11 at 4pm. Tickets are €7 and are available here.

Over the weekend, Shore Shots will screen such flicks as Behind The LinesOut In The LineupTierra des PatagonesDeath 2 Hipsters and the Shore Shots edit contest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsCfbvz5xIo