IRISH eyes are smiling after Professional Angling Association coaches and qualification deliverers broke new ground once more in angling tutoring.
Derek North and his team travelled to Northern Ireland, at the request of the Loughs Agency, to help a mixed group gain the Level Two 1st4Sport qualification.
Some of the participants had already achieved the Level 2 in game angling and the national guiding qualification, but they all insisted on taking the full course again so that they could see it from another perspective.
Also on the course was the first female coarse angling coach and a man who was wheelchair-bound, making him the first coarse angling coach with a disability.
All had basic angling skills and some, like the Northern Ireland international, had an excellent standard. Common to them all was their good communication skills.
Derek said: “I would like to openly thank the Loughs Agency for its input into the course itself, and for sourcing such a mixed choice of anglers. They were drawn from a diverse and broad section of the wider community within Northern Ireland.
“Before the Good Friday agreement, some of the members of the group may have never communicated. And, because of our wonderful sport, angling has achieved what would have been impossible a few years ago.
“My team and I gained some new friendships and a true respect of people from diverse backgrounds and, through our common goal of angling, we were able to communicate openly
and honestly, share skills and knowledge of our diverse sport and enjoy a sense of humour that would surprise most people.
“The winner in all of this can only be angling and we have now proved it is not only inclusive but it breaks down barriers in all walks of life.
“The angling world should be proud that our sport has become such a powerful tool and the communication that has been achieved simply by talking about fishing.“
Irish angle
