Press Room

Paddy Barry, the renowned Arctic explorer seen recently in the RTE-aired documentary 'Northeast Passage: Across the Roof of Russia', will address Macra members at this year's Bank of Ireland National Leadership Awards ceremony which will be held in Dublin on February 15th.

Paddy, originally from Cork but now living in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, was the leader of the greatest Irish sailing expedition since the days of Shackleton. Between 2001 and 2005 he led a crew of seven Irish sailors on the first east-west circumnavigation of the Arctic along the coast of Siberia in an Irish-built aluminium yacht, 'Northabout'. Battling through the ice of the Russian Arctic, the team risked their lives daily on their quest to complete the 3,000 miles of this historic journey.

Paddy also made a famous first crossing of the Atlantic in his Galway Hooker 'St. Patrick' and his voyages to Spitzenbergen at the edge of the polar ice pack and to Western Greenland resulted in the award to him of the coveted Blue Water Medal of Cruising Club of America.

The Bank of Ireland National Leadership Awards ceremony which will be held in Bank of Ireland offices on Mespil Road on February 15, where prizes of travel bursaries worth EUR2,000 will be presented to three Macra members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities.

Finalists in this year's event are:
Carmel Brennan, Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny
Denis Drennan, Kilkenny City, Co. Kilkenny
Dara Englishby, Athboy, Co. Meath
Michael Gowing, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
Dara Kavanagh, Ballycoog, Co. Wicklow
Eddie O'Donnell, Dundrum, South Tipperary.

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