Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

In the Irish Examiner's report today the number of sailors leaving the Naval Service paints a grim picture for the future of Ireland’s maritime armed service. More than 100 members of the service are likely to leave this year alone,…

An organisation which represents enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces says it's "very sceptical" about the Department of Defence's claim that it will address the accommodation crisis at Naval Service headquarters "as a matter of urgency". PDFORRA's president Mark Keane,…

#navy - An increase in take-home pay for members of the Defence Forces is likely to be recommended by the Public Service Pay Commission when it reports to the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe today (yesterday). The commission, The Irish…

#navy - Irish Government must address the crisis in the Defence Forces which has now reached the point where its effectiveness is so broken that it can no longer guarantee the security of the State and its citizens, a protest…

Waterford welcomes the Naval Service’s newest offshore patrol vessel LÉ George Bernard Shaw for its official naming and commissioning ceremonies today, Tuesday 30 April. Public viewing of the ceremonies will be from the William Vincent Wallace Plaza in the city…

#navy - Next Saturday a parade will be held in Cork, Echolive reports, to highlight concerns about pay and conditions of members of the Naval Service. The Parade for Respect and Loyalty will take place at 12 noon on the…

#navy - Patrol ship captains of the Irish Naval Service are being forced to seek ‘volunteers’ to crew their vessels due to decreasing numbers available. The Irish Examiner has learned the Naval Service is desperately trying to crew a nine-ship…

#navy - The deployment of patrol vessels by the Naval Service is to end in the EU's big migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The move writes Independent.ie follows a decision by the EU to stop maritime patrols of the…

#navy - The Irish Times writes that it is the breaking down of barriers which is central to what Mark Mellett sees as his role as Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. The obstacles are within the Defence Forces…

#navy - LÉ Niamh an offshore patrol vessel of the Naval Service is in the Port of Galway this week and is offering the public guided tours. The OPV writes GalwayDaily will be alongside Galway this today and Friday, with…

#navy - In Dundalk Bay, two Northern Ireland-registered fishing vessels were detained on Tuesday evening of this week. As RTE News reports, they were detained by the crew of the LÉ Orla who were carrying out their normal patrols in…

#navy - Increasingly the Naval Service is taking on more foreign-born recruits, which is a bonus when it comes to dealing with trawlers fishing off the coast that hail from a number of different countries. As the Irish Eaminer writes,…

#navy - A first-ever visit to Dun Laoghaire Harbour of the Naval Service newest OPV P60 class took place last weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore. The fourth of the Offshore Patrol Vessel class sisters to enter service, LÉ George Bernard Shaw…

#navy - Reserve personnel in the Defence Forces writes the Irish Examiner are being discriminated against because they are not getting the same pay and conditions as regulars in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. One extraordinary anomaly is…

It was while crossing the Atlantic on the Sail Training Brigantine Asgard II during a celestial navigation module of his Naval Service education in 1999 that Barry Byrne had something of an epiphany writes W M Nixon. He’d been introduced…

#navy - PDforra, the organisation representing enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces has said recruitment in the Naval Service has reached a new crisis point and the only way to solve it is with pay increases to retain personnel. As…