#NamingCeremony - Afloat can reveal the Naval Service newest newbuild OPV LÉ James Joyce (P62) is to be named and commissioned during a ceremony to be held in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The joint ceremony of the second OPV90 'Beckett' class which was delivered to Irish waters almost a fortnight ago is scheduled to take place on 1 September at the south Dublin Bay harbour.
The €50m LÉ James Joyce is to berth alongside the harbour's Carlisle Pier, from where she made a first call over the weekend along with a maiden call to Dublin Port yesterday.
She departed the capital this morning on a southbound course that saw the 90m long newbuild pass off Dun Laoghaire Harbour and offshore of Sandycove.
The location of Dun Laoghaire Harbour for the naming ceremony will be apt given that Joyce had lived briefly in the nearby Martello Tower across Scotmans Bay in Sandycove. His stay albeit of only a few days took place during September 1904, however the tower forms the famous setting for the opening scene of Joyce's literary masterpiece 'Ulysses' (click for related story).
Each year the masterpiece is celebrated on 'Bloomsday' (June 16th 1904), the date in which Joyce depicted the book on. Followers of Joyce on Bloomsday read recitals from Ulysses on the top of the tower which has panoramic views of Dublin Bay and coastline.
In addition the Carlisle Pier is in close proximity of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's new library headquarters, the LexIcon that towers above the harbour and overlooks the expanse of Dublin Bay.
The first of the OPV90 series, LÉ Samuel Beckett (P61) was commissioned into the Naval Service in May 2014. On that occasion a joint ceremony took place in Dublin Port close to the Samuel Beckett swing-bridge.
LÉ James Joyce is the second in a three-ship replacement programme where Babcock Marine in Appledore, Devon where awarded a €200m contract to upgrade the Naval Service fleet.
The newbuilds will replace all three 'Emer' class sisters in which only the LÉ Aisling (P23) remains in service having been commissioned in 1980.
This leaves her direct replacement the newbuild LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63) which is to be delivered in 2016.