''Seascapes'' is a weekly 30-minute Irish radio programme covering maritime matters broadcast on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

on Fridays at 22:30 and formerly presented by the award-winning presenter Tom MacSweeney. The programme deals with all subjects of maritime interest, from leisure to commercial shipping, as well as fishing and the environment, and is known for encouraging listeners' involvement. ''Seascapes'', which has been running since the 1990s, is one of the most popular night-time programmes on RTÉ Radio 1. It commenced in 1989 as a 15-minute filler on maritime matters by Tom MacSweeney, who had been RTÉ's Southern Correspondent based in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

for many years and became the station's first Marine Correspondent. The programme was later extended to a 30-minute slot. ''Seascapes'' is made up of various segments put together by producer Marcus Connaughton in the Cork studio. These include reports from the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. Founded in 1824 ...

lifeboat service, a correspondent from Ireland's offshore islands, official maritime notices, the inland waterways and a nostalgic look back at marine events from times past. The 1,000th edition of ''Seascapes'' was broadcast in mid-December 2008 and featured two recorded programmes from the

's new Irish Headquarters in

Swords, County Dublin Swords ( or ) in County Dublin, the county town of the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government area of Fingal, is a large suburban town on the east coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated ten kilometres north of D ...

. Both MacSweeney and the ''Seascapes'' theme tune "

Sailing By "Sailing By" is a short piece of light music composer, composed by Ronald Binge in 1963, which is used before the late Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. A slow waltz, the piece uses a repetitive ABCAB structure and a distinctive rising and fallin ...

" by

Ronald Binge Ronald Binge (15 July 1910 – 6 September 1979) was a British composer and arranger of light music. He arranged many of Mantovani's most famous pieces before composing his own music, which included '' Elizabethan Serenade'' and ''Sailing By''.A ...

were replaced at the end of 2009. No explanation was given as to why "Sailing By" was replaced. It has since been reinstated. Tom MacSweeney now hosts ''This Island Nation'' which is broadcast fortnightly on independent stations.

References

External links

RTÉ Radio Seascapes programme page

RLNI Ireland
RTÉ Radio 1 programmes {{radio-show-stub