Manuel Di Lucia

'You Only Live Once'

Synonymous with Kilkee Sub Aqua Club Manuel Di Lucia is renowned throughout the country as a pioneering diver, fisherman, lifeguard, restaurant operator and Marine Rescue Centre founder. Earlier this year, the 83-year-old published a book – ‘You Only Live Once’ – about his adventurous life by the sea.

Dr Simon Berrow

Underwater Photography

Dr Simon Berrow has been working on cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in Ireland since 1987. He is founder member and current Chief Science Officer of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (www.iwdg.ie), which coordinate all-Ireland long-term recording schemes. The data from these schemes supports the development of conservation policies and best practice guidelines for the conservation and management of cetaceans in Ireland. He is a founder member of the Irish Basking Shark Group, formed in 2008 primarily to seek legal protection for sharks in Ireland. He also lectures at the Atlantic Technological University, Galway, contributing to the Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology degree and a number of Masters programmes, and currently supervises four PhD candidates. He has over 200 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals to his name and sits on a number of scientific committees including the National Biodiversity Forum.
He is a CMAS Leading Diver with his first logged dive at Anglesea, Wales, in 1985.

Michael Loftus

Michael Loftus of Grainne Uaile Sub Aqua Club and Search & Recovery Unit will tell the story behind the sinking of the MV Shingle at Killala Bay. Ireland’s first artificial reef, it is hoped that the sunken ship will attract divers from around Ireland and abroad. Michael played a central role in the Shingle project and he will be talking about it at Diving Ireland Expo 2025 in Nenagh.