#IrishShipping - Former officers, crew and staff of Irish Shipping gathered at the Conrad Hotel on Friday evening (14 November) for a special reunion 30 years after the liquidation of the company, as The Irish Times reports.
Among those in attendance were Brian Cleare, Brian Boyce, John Boyce and Leo Coy, co-authors of last year's Irish Shipping Ltd: A Fleet History, as well as 96-year-old Des Branigan, one of the company's first recruits who put their lives on the line to keep Ireland supplied during the 'Emergency'.
The anniversary is also time to reflect on Ireland's shipbuilding history, as Jehan Ashmore writes on the tenure of Verolme Cork Dockyard – and the lasting legacy of Irish Shipping, which lives on in name in the form of the Arklow Willow, an echo of the earlier cargo vessel Irish Willow.