Donal Hickey: Why the sea and the coast is a magnet for Irish people

Nobody here lives more than 100km from the sea and about half of us live within 10km of the coast

Children, especially, are encouraged to look more closely when they visit the coast. File Picture

In the days before Irish people became familiar with Lanzarote, Corfu, or the Greek islands, they felt privileged to enjoy a week’s holiday in Youghal, Tramore, or Ballybunion. It’s going to be like that again this summer, even if the weather is only fair.

We love the sea and the coast, though we keep complaining about our weather, which, of course, comes chiefly from the Atlantic. Like John Masefield’s poem from schooldays long ago, we feel compelled to go down to the seas again “for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied’’.