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Cold Water CaliforniaCold Water California

Meet the people behind the surf stories featured in Cold Water California.

  • Portrush's west strand - surfers come from round the world to surf Ireland's waves, including thousands who come for lessons.
  • Richie Fitzgerald (L) with broadcaster Mark Patterson. Richie says surf is worth millions to the Bundoran economy.
  • Nan and Patricia Brennan say Bundoran's decline began when the railway closed in 1957, but surfers offer the town new hope.
  • Owen Murphy says he turned to alcohol when he lost his job as a carpenter during the recession, and couldn't see any future.
  • He moved to Bundoran and started a new life as a surf instructor "Yeah, you could say surfing saved me".
  • Al Mennie is one of the pioneers of 'Big Wave' surfing in Ireland, risking his life to ride giant waves far from the coast.

This gallery is from

  • Cold Water California

    How surfing is shaping Ireland's coastal communities, north and south of the border.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

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