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LAST UPDATE | 16 Oct 2020
CONCERNS HAVE BEEN raised again about the whereabouts of the Dingle dolphin Fungie.
Concerns were originally raised last night that the popular dolphin hadn’t been seen, but a local fisherman Paul Hand said he spotted the dolphin off the Dingle coast in Kerry.
But this sighting was yesterday, and hours have passed by again where the dolphin hasn’t been seen – which local sea-farers say is very unusual.
At 5pm today, a Facebook page belonging to ‘Dingle Sea Safari Tours’ said that they had been searching for Fungie for almost 12 hours.
“Our Fungie boat [has] been out searching for Fungie since 8am this morning.
So far, there has been no sighting reported. We have to say at this stage it is very unusual for Fungie not to show himself for this length of time we will keep you updated as time goes on hopefully will have better news by later today.
Dingle fishermen and locals spoke to RTÉ’s reporter Seán Mac an tSítigh and said that the longest they had spent looking for Fungie previously would have been “five or six hours”, adding that he usually stays within the harbour boundary.
Mac an tSítigh, who is also a Dingle local, added that a pod of dolphins in the bay recently may have prompted the solitary creature to move away for a few days.
Earlier concerns and sightings
Concerns had raised last night about the dolphin after he hadn’t been spotted. But the Facebook page ‘Fungie Forever Photos of the Dingle Dolphin’ had posted that a search had been conducted yesterday to try track the dolphin down.
Last night, the Fungie Facebook page posted an update that he’d been spotted by a local fisherman.
Speaking to RTÉ News, fisherman Paul Hand said: “I am one thousand percent certain it was Fungie. I’ve been looking at him for the last 40 years. It was definitely him. He swam alongside my boat for a spell as I headed out in to the bay.”
Hand said that there were a number of other bottlenose dolphins in the area in recent days, which may explain why Fungie wasn’t to be seen in the usual spots he occupies.
He said: “There’s a share of other bottlenose dolphins out in the bay at the moment because the place is full of sprat. I saw at least five or six of them out there yesterday.
“There’s a lot of feeding going on and what’s happening is Fungie’s is following the fishing boats out in to the bay and is deciding to stay feeding with the other dolphins. He is enjoying the company.”
The bottlenose dolphin is said to have been first spotted in Dingle in 1983 but had been feared to have been missing after he hadn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.
During tourist season, the friendly Fungie is a popular attraction with thousands flocking hoping to see the dolphin, and boat tours centered around offering sightings of him.
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What a negative headline!There is a lot of good news in this article,reflecting the hard work done in these DEIS schools.But of course the headline just addresses the negative part!
Headline also suggests that living in an urban area is universally detrimental to educational attainment when in fact the article only refers to urban deis schools and as ailish pointed out above, the article highlights significant improvements in English and maths within those schools.
Sorry, as Aileen pointed out.
Typo in headline
“Urban pupils are more worser* at English and maths”
A neighbour of mine would tell you he supplies food to the canteen in one of these Deis school. He tell you nothing best is supplied. No expense is spared apparently. Even fizzy drinks is supplied on occasion. Compare this to where my children go to school in a small country school. The only food they get is what we send them with them in their lunchbox. Who the worst off and there was me thinking all children are suspose to be treated equally under the constitution.
Sure when I went to school we got nothing at all, walked there barefoot at 6 in the morning. Would be lucky to grab a mouthful of chalk dust at lunch time. We got some learnin’ done
“Mouthful of chalk dust”
I cried laughing after reading that.
What’s that got to do with reading?
Parental income has much less to do with the standard of education a child recieves than parental involvement. How many of the kids struggling to read do you think have a parent that reads to them? Its time for these parents to take responsibility for their kids.
The 22:1 ratio is an error in the article. This only applies up to first or second class I believe after which the 22:1 ratio is classed as a desirable ratio but not enforceable. As such you can have classes(3rd,4th,5th,6th)in Deis I schools with 23-36 children in them.
Are Ya bleedin jokin me ?
I don’t think he is langer boyyyyyy.
That’s why so many country folk are the dubs bosses in the city.as the old saying goes …what does a dub call a country person at work????
Boss
Plenty of jobs at the Journal for the ones who have spelling difficulties in the future.
Worser…….is this a word???
Used to be in the 16th century
Think it’s supposed to be play on words Claire!!
I went to a rural DEIS primary school, our class size was 33-37.
These ratios are a new enough rule.
I went to a deis school in rural Ireland, I did ok but it was an uphill battle, the school was underfunded and understaffed. chronic unemployment/underemployment means children in disadvantaged areas are less motivated as it is unlikely they will have the money for third level even if they get the grades.
generational poverty also causes a lot of these problems, its called a poverty trap for a reason
We live in a city and drive our daughter six miles out the road to go to school. A bit of a trek and hits the pocket a bit more. But smaller classes, a higher standard or education, and you know that the child is mixing with people of good stock.
“Mixing with people of good stock” that comment says a lot about you as a person. Hopefully your children won’t grow up with such a ridiculous attitude.
All education correspondents seem to take for granted that the DES claim that literacy and numeracy levels have risen due to its campaign of recent years is valid. There is insufficient evidence supporting this claim.
have your say