{"id":12327,"date":"2025-05-02T16:31:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=12327"},"modified":"2025-05-02T16:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:31:24","slug":"opening-of-new-aquarium-in-bray-set-to-make-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/opening-of-new-aquarium-in-bray-set-to-make-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening of new aquarium in Bray set to make waves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new aquarium will be opening in the former Sea Life building in Bray, County Wicklow, news which is sure to leave local residents awash with excitement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Whitmore, who\u2019s the party\u2019s marine spokesperson and represents the Wicklow constituency, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m delighted to see an aquarium return to Bray Town &#8211; Kevin, Shane, and the Marine Life Aquarium Bray team are very experienced not just in running aquariums but also in marine conservation, and I\u2019m sure they will prove an excellent resource for the local community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe closure of Sea Life two years ago was a significant blow to Bray, impacting not only tourism but also the vibrancy of the promenade &#8211; I myself also have a background in marine biology and was therefore really disappointed by the 2023 closure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reached out to multiple other aquariums at the time to see if they would take over this site &#8211; needless to say, I am delighted to see that one of those groups I spoke to then has decided to take up operations in the building.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know that the new operators are keen for Marine Life Aquarium Bray to be an educational facility, which will be a fabulous fit to the East Coast, given our rich history of maritime activity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom my marine biology background, I know that sites like this are so important for budding marine biologists &#8211; I am really looking forward to working with the new operators to make this venture as successful as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver since Sea Life closed its doors, I\u2019ve been holding out hope that an alternative provider would be found to reinstate this vital resource &#8211; Marine Life Aquarium Bray promises to be a significant addition to the local area, serving as an educational space for our youth and a destination for tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>May 2nd, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new aquarium will be opening in the former Sea Life building in Bray, County Wicklow, news which is sure to leave local residents awash with excitement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who\u2019s the party\u2019s marine spokesperson and represents the Wicklow constituency, said: \u201cI\u2019m delighted to see an aquarium return to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,7,516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-wildlife"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opening of new aquarium in Bray set to make waves - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/opening-of-new-aquarium-in-bray-set-to-make-waves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opening of new aquarium in Bray set to make waves - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new aquarium will be opening in the former Sea Life building in Bray, County Wicklow, news which is sure to leave local residents awash with excitement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. 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