Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The Defence Forces growing manpower crisis has left the Naval Service unable to confirm if it can bring two tied-up ships back into operational service this year. In an unprecedented move last June, it was forced to bring LÉ Eithne…

A submission from an expert group to the government says it must bolster the Naval Service to protect the country's maritime security. The submission, seen by the Irish Examiner, was made by the Irish Maritime Forum, an independent and non-political…

Officers in the Defence Forces have paid up to €67,000 each to buy their way out of their military careers early rather than continue to serve for the time they initially agreed, it has emerged. The Irish Times has established…

The Defence Forces has despite ever-decreasing numbers due to the retention crisis, has managed to undertake a mammoth number of operations during the year, ranging from guarding visiting dignitaries to naval fishery patrols, bomb disposal, and airlifting seriously ill patients…

Defence Forces cutbacks coupled with an ever-increasing shortage of naval personnel, have made Ireland the softest target in the EU for international drug smugglers, a security expert has warned. Almost a quarter of the Naval Service's ships, reports Herard.ie, were…

A former patrol vessel of the Irish Naval Service, LÉ Aisling, was sold to one of the participants in the civil war in Libya last year in breach of a UN arms embargo, the UN Security Council has been told.…

A naval officer says it is high time that the State defends its critical national infrastructure by protecting the transatlantic cables that pass through Irish waters. As the Irish Examiner reports, Lieutenant Shane Mulcahy, attached to the Naval Operations Command…

Newest Naval Service vessel, LÉ George Bernard Shaw is to open to the public for guided tours this weekend (7th-8th December) at Rathmullan Pier in Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal. Navy personnel of the latest offshore patrol vessel (OPV90) P60 class…

A special tax credit by the Government is to introduced for sea-going naval personnel from next year. Serving members of the Naval Service, who spend at least 80 days at sea, will be eligible for the credit worth €1,270 per…

A Spanish registered fishing vessel has been escorted into Galway by the Naval Service after it was detained off the Kerry coast writes Lorna Siggins. The vessel was inspected by the Naval Service patrol ship LÉ William Butler Yeats and…

A Belgian Navy frigate conducting exercises in the Irish Sea was tracked by Afloat days in advance of a visit to Dublin Port and in the run up to this week's Brexit Deal finally struck in Brussels, writes Jehan Ashmore.…

President of the Defence Forces representative body Pdforra has said conditions for members are so bad that 80 naval personnel are living on (ships), some of which were deemed to be unsuitable for accommodation when they were commissioned 35 years…

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said strengthening the Defence Forces (which includes the Naval Service) will take time and retaining personnel at present was a “real challenge”. However, he said he was confident “we are back on track” after military…

Ministers reports The Irish Examiner, have described comments by President Michael D Higgins that members of the Defence Forces should have sufficient incomes as “deeply unhelpful”. Mr Higgins’s comments on Wednesday night caused widespread surprise, anger, and bemusement in Government…

A Naval Service diver who was involved in migrant rescue in the Mediterranean is one of seven recipients of Defence Forces value awards conferred by President Michael D Higgins on Wednesday evening writes Lorna Siggins Able Mechanician Ryan O’Driscoll, originally…

The Irish Examiner writes, the number of recruits paying to get out of the Defence Forces before their training has even finished confirms claims the retention crisis can't be overcome by major recruitment drives alone. Figures obtained by Jack Chambers,…