It's time to celebrate! Coastwatch Survey 2025 results to be presented December 8th at the EC offices in Dublin

Dear Surveyors,

Thank you so much for all your survey and data input work.

We received 670 reports from the island of Ireland which is above average and are delighted with the quality too!

After preliminary clean up and duplicate removal, we are analysing information from 644 survey units and will have the results overview as well as Nitrate detail to feed into the Nitrates Act Plan consultation and marine litter ready by December.

We are grateful to the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy for supporting the survey and the launch event.

You are invited to the results launch event on December 8th in Europe House, Chatham St Dublin 2; 10.30 til 3 pm). Space is limited and names need to be given in advance. Regional coordinators and surveyors will get first preference. Please register as soon as possible and no later than Dec 2nd at this link. If you are a surveyor, please put the county in which you surveyed into the registration form at "who are you presenting".

Hats off and a huge thank you to all Coastwatch coordinators and surveyors for bumper turnout in the autumn 2025 Coastwatch shore survey. Your valuable observations are now being compiled into 2025 results. It’s a particularly rich citizen science crop! Surveyors who indicated their contribution could be acknowledged publicly are listed below.

To all -- Thank you!

Judith Annett, Kealan Arenzana King, Iker Arenzana King, Mary Attridge-Jones, Mary Balfe, Eben Barnard, Roisin Barron, Heidi Bedell, Mick Berry, Mykhailo Borodin, Eileen Boyd, Peter Brady, Sharon Burke, Marianne Butler, Karl Byrne, Brian Carroll, Conor Casey, Castledonovan National School, Owen Clarkin, Portmarnock Community Clean Coast, Portmarnock Beach Clean Coast, Gráinne Coll, Ruth Connolly, Bernadette Connolly, Julia Cooper, Cathal Copeland, Climate Champions Cork City Council, Tom Corrigan, Evelyn Cottell, Andrew Cox, Elizabeth Creed, Matthew Curtis, D'hondt family, Cathy Daly, Eithne Doogan, Dorota Kolbuk & Nika Scheepers, Oleksandr Dubovik, Paul Dubsky, Barbara Emmerson, Steve Evans, John Findlater, Olivia & Peter FitzGerald, Amy Flaherty, Tara Forde, Grainne Furey, Patricia Goodbody, Seamus Gordon, Mary Hachey, Paul Hadland, Ann Haigh, Tom Hannigan, Pamela Hardeman, Kate Harrington, Eimear Haughey, Monica Hayes, Marie louise Heffernan, Sarah Hegarty, Sadhbh Horan, Castlemill Education Centre Horticulture Class, Grace, Helen Hynes, Justin Ivory, Angharad, Fadhil, Firyaguna, Arin, Rachel, Sonny, Wike, Conor, Hannah, Howe, Janknecht, Yiannaki, Máire Jones, Jane Kelleher, Karen Keller, Sarah Kelliher, Peter Kelly, Siobhán Kennedy, Lisa Kenny, Dee Kerins, Dorota Kolbuk, Anna Kovalcikova, Deirdre Lynch, Frances Lynch, Dara Mac Domhnaill, Thérèse- Seashore Explore Maddock, Ciara Mc Donald, Michael Mc Kevitt, Catherine Mc Mahon, Monika McDonnell, Marian McElligott, Michael McGovern, Michael McGovern, Diarmuid, Michelle and Meabh McGuckin, Maeve McLoughlin, Elene Michaelides, Abbie Miller, Cathal Moloney, Claire and Kevin Moore, Alan Moore, Sam Moran, Trish Murphy, Achill Outdoor Education Centre, Irish Ocean Literacy Network, Dawn Ni Laoghaire, Dublin City Coastwatch Team, Dorota Kolbuk, George Nolan, Gurraneasig NS, Ciarán O Murchu, Ciarán Ó Murchú, Ciara O' Brien, Adrian O'Hare, Diane Orr, Jasmine Patel Bolger, Margot Planquelle, Alan Potter, Jody Power, Paul Quigley, Kate Quirke, St. Anne's NS, 6th Class Rathangan, Áine Roche, Joan Russell, Catherine Russell, Catherine Ryan, Liam Ryan, Richard Sandes, Sandes Family Sandes Family, Keith Scanlon, Carlotta Schwoerbel, Roslyn Shaw and Robert Nicholson Shaw, Killiney Bay Community Council, Anne Sundermann, Miriam Sweeney, Union Hall Tidy Towns, Tom Haggard Clean Coasts group, Catherine Twomey & Tramore Eco Group, Coastwatch coordinators: D. Kolbuk, N. Scheepers UCD: R. Carroll, J. Forde, R. Hoogenboom, G. Hoppit, E. Millet, C. Moloney, L. Sontgerath, F. Winter, Patrick Veale, Aine Walsh, Michael Walsh, Robert Wasson, Laurie Whelehan, Co Wicklow Partnership and Wicklow Men's Shed, Lucy White, Gwen Wilkinson, Katharina Wollenberg Valero, Sandra Woods and Emily Wren.

Here a little more information about the Dec 8th event:

Peter Power, Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, will welcome us. The draft results and survey finding high and low lights will then be presented by the Coastwatch core team and regional coordinators. This will be followed by an early light lunch with a ting of celebration. Then it's on to a workshop on marine litter and waste, working back from what was found on the shore to EU and national waste policy, law, compliance, and ways to improve things even more - as thankfully there are improvements.

Everyone will have their say and chance to discuss in break-out groups where issues can be raised too. One break-out is on legal issues, one on your experience, proposals and ideas for better waste avoidance, prevention and the wider circular economy. The final program will be on our website www.coastwatch.org next week.

Unfortunately, the technology isn’t fully reliable yet in Europe house for a hybrid event. So, this is planned as an in-person event only. However, to address that we are planning an online results workshop later that week with detail to follow.

More Coastwatch results events are planned in early 2026 as we work through other results in more detail.

Finally an Invite to share your images:

If you would like to share 1 highlight and/or 1 lowlight picture for inclusion in a survey 2025 picture loop to go onto our website, please send the photos with:

(i) your name (or pseudonym if you prefer in case of low light),

(ii) caption, including county and date taken for inclusion.

to survey@coastwatch.org

We will number photos and link these to you in acknowledgements. You keep all rights.

Highlight photos should lift our spirits and let us share our amazing coastal riches as well as happy surveyors. The first ones will be included in the launch on Dec 8th and some selected for discussion in the Zoom workshop.

Very best wishes from all the team now mulling over data analyses!

Karin, Paul, Kevin, Nika and Mary