Message from Irish Underwater Council

Ireland, being an island on the western edge of Europe and on the Continental Shelf, is perfectly suited for the sport of SCUBA diving. Our waters provide dive sites of varying quality and standards to encompass all individual requirements. Due to it's small size it is relatively easy to travel from one part of the country to another, giving divers the opportunity to travel for one, or more, days' diving.

The dive season generally starts around March and ends around October. It is possible, of course, to dive outside of this, but due to adverse weather and sea conditions it is not appealing. Diving in Ireland started off in the early fifties (Belfast Br. B.S.A.C.) with a few adventurers overcoming many difficulties to dive, sometimes in remote locations, for short dives to shallow depths. In those days their equipment was very much the deciding factor on duration and depth. Today it is much easier and more comfortable, but as a result we are now more exposed to various physical and physiological dangers.

From those early divers, we learned all about the sites they visited, the good and bad points, where to go, what to see and what to do. Much of this information was passed by word of mouth through club newsletters and periodicals. In the early sixties independent Irish diving clubs formed the umbrella body, Comhairle Fo-Thuinn the Irish Underwater Council (C.F.T./I.U.C.). The Council regulates all aspects of diving in Ireland and represents Ireland at C.M.A.S.

- From CFT Introduction to Diving.