Independent Councillor Cadogan Enright chaired the inaugural meeting of Down Coastal Rowing Club (Ardglass Branch) was held Wednesday night in the village at the Ardglass Development Association (ADA) drop-in centre in Bath Street. A steering committee was formed to fully set up the local group.

Local enthusiasts have formed a local Ardglass branch of the Down Coastal Rowing Club.Local enthusiasts formed the Ardglass branch of the Down Coastal Rowing Club (DCRC). The DCRC emerged from an initiative pioneered by the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership and the PSNI. The aim is to build eight 22-feet wooden St Ayle’s skiffs in local coastal communities and ultimately have them take part in regattas and events along the Lecale Coast and in Strangford Lough in a fun and on a competitive basis.

Cllr Enright represents Down Council on the Strangford Lough and Lecale partnership and said “St Ayle’s skiffs have a strong international following. Each one will be built by local enthusiasts and rowed by people in their communities. There is a great opportunity for a healthy inter-community rivalry which will no doubt be a feature of the main festivals in east Down in the summer time in the near future.”

The Ardglass branch is now seeking members to join up. All persons joining the Ardglass branch will also be required to join the Down Coastal Rowing Club (DCRC) overall organisation which will co-ordinate much of the developments etc. (Cost of membership fee is £5,)

If  you think you may have a useful set of skills in boat-building such as woodworking, painting etc, why not get involved? It is expected that each skiff takes up to 800 work hours to complete and a team is required to see this project through.

To express you interested initially, contact Mary McCargo, 028 44 841575, Cadogan Enright at 07590462329  or Jim Masson on07855545873.

Many hands make light work.