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Displaying items by tag: National Rowing Centre

#ROWING: Emma Desmond impressed at the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre today. The 28-year-old Corkwoman, who took up the sport in late 2012, finished second to Sinéad Jennings in the time trial for lightweight single scullers and took her place in the matrix for lightweight doubles with Jennings and Denise Walsh and Siobhán McCrohan, who finished third and fourth. Claire Lambe did not trial because of injury. The matrix later had to be abandoned when McCrohan pulled out injured.

Justin Ryan - a lightweight -  was the fastest men's single sculler, with Dave Neale heading up the heavyweight ranks. Max Rowan, who is originally from Australia but now competes for Skibbereen, was second to Neale. Sanita Puspure, who has a rib injury could not compete in the women's single, with the pair of Lisa Dilleen and Leonora Kennedy and single sculler Monika Dukarska the fastest women. Paul O'Donovan and Gary O'Donovan trialled with this group as a lightweight double and set a good time.

Ireland Trial, Saturday, December 20th (Selected Results)

Heats (time trial over 19000m; per centage of projected world gold medal time)

Men

Heavyweight Pair: 1 Coughlan, Deere 6:44.29 (86.5 per cent), 2 Meehan, Crowley 6:48.38 (85.6), 3 Harrington, McGuckian (under-23) 6:51.06 (85.0).

Heavyweight Single: 1 D Neale 6:58.42 (88.5), 2 M Rowan 7:03.06 (87.6), 3 T Oliver 7:05.56 (87.1), 4 T Hughes 7:06.16 (86.9), 5 M Maher 7:06.94 (86.8), 6 E Rowan 7:07.6 (86.6).

Lightweight Single: 1 J Ryan 6:55.99 (90.9), 2 A Burns (under-23) 6:59.36 (90.2), 3 F McCarthy (u-23) 7:09.01 (88.1), 4 S Toland 7:09.34 (88.1).

Singles/Crew Boats (Men/Women): 1 P O'Donovan, G O'Donovan (lightweight men's double scull) 6:16.97 (91.2), 2 L Kennedy, L Dilleen (heavyweight women's pair) 7:01.34 (91.1), 3 M Dukarska (women's single) 7:27.39 (90.2), 4 K McCarthy (women's single) 7:40.32 (87.7), 5 S O'Brien (under-23 women's single) 7:55.6 (84.9).

Women

Lightweight Single: 1 S Jennings 7:23.67 (93.8 per cent), 2 E Desmond 7:29.96 (92.5), 3 D Walsh 7:31.27 (92.2), 4 S McCrohan 7:32.07 (92.0).

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Rowing Ireland honoured Mick O'Callaghan at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. Bernard Allen, the former Minister for Sport and TD for Cork North Central, unveiled a special plaque to the Lee Valley man for his "enormous contribution" to the development of the impressive Centre. The plaque is at the front left of the boathouse, close to where presentations are made to winners at the Championships.

 

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Two of the top executives of the Olympic Council of Ireland have visited the National Rowing Centre in Cork and complimented the rowers and mentors on the professionalism of their programme.

Stephen Martin, the chief executive of the OCI, and Kevin Kilty, the chef de mission for the Ireland team at the Olympic Games in 2016, visited the National Rowing Centre on Friday. They were hosted by Morten Espersen, the Ireland high performance director, and Rowing Ireland chief executive Hamish Adams.

Martin and Kilty viewed the world-class facilities at the NRC and dropped in on a training session for the high performance rowers overseen by coaches Don and Mary McLachlan. The athletes train 14 to 16 times every week. The Olympic Council executives spoke to the athletes and answered questions about the OCI’s preparations for Rio 2016.

“I was delighted to take Morten up on his offer to see his athletes train here at the National Rowing Centre,” Kilty said. “The dedication of the athletes and coaches is inspiring and I must commend the work of Rowing Ireland and that of Morten and Hamish.”

He said he was certain rowers would feature strongly in Team Ireland’s performance in Rio 2016.

Martin added: “The work of Rowing Ireland here at the National Rowing Centre is exceptional and we at the OCI are working closely with the coaches and Morten to assist their work in delivering qualification for and ultimately success in Rio. I am extremely impressed by the dedication and commitment of the athletes that Kevin and I have met here today and we will support their endeavours to achieve qualification and success in Rio.”

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Outboard motors worth up to €20,000 were stolen from the National Rowing Centre in Cork at the weekend. It is understood that rowers from the High Performance Programme were staying at the NRC when thieves took the engines, which were attached to catamarans and tinnies moored on the water. The raid did not come from the land.

Rowing Ireland has advised that anyone who becomes aware of 15HP Hondas and 20HP Yamahas being offered for sale should contact the Gardaí.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: UCD took the Wylie Cup for men and the Bank of Ireland Cup for women at the University Championships of Ireland at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. Under the new rules two wins in eights across the grades of Novice, Intermediate, Club and Senior grades sufficed. UCD won the men’s Novice and Club eights and the Novice and Intermediate in women’s eights.

It was, however, a particularly good day for Trinity. They bested UCD in both the senior men’s and women’s eights and won the overall points classification.

University Championships of Ireland, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Men

Wylie Cup: UCD

Eight – Senior: 1 Trinity, 2 NUIG, 3 UCD. Club: 1 UCD A, 2 Trinity, 3 Queen's. Intermediate: 1 NUIG, 2 Trinity, 3 UCD A. Novice: 1 UCD A, 2 Trinity A, 3 Queen’s A.

Four – Club, coxed: UCD A.

Pair – Senior: UCC.

Sculling, Quadruple – Senior: UCC. Novice: Queen’s. Double – Intermediate: Cork IT. Single – Senior: 1 Univ of Limerick (M O’Donovan). - Intermediate: UCC (S O’Connor).

Women

Bank of Ireland Cup: UCD

Eight – Senior: 1 Trinity B, 2 UCD, 3 Trinity A. Club: 1 NUIG, 2 Queen's, 3 Trinity. Intermediate: 1 UCD, 2 NUIG, 3 Trinity. Novice: 1 UCD, 2 Queen’s A, 3 Trinity B.

Four – Senior: Trinity B. Club, coxed: NUIG. Intermediate, coxed: UCC.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: NUIG. Double – Intermediate: Trinity B.

Single – Intermediate: Trinity (S Dolan).

Overall Points Winners: Trinity.

Published in Rowing

#IrishRowingChampionships: The first session of senior finals at the Irish Rowing Championships started with a tremendous win for the women’s four of Frances Judge, Marie O’Neill, Anna Wickham and Lisa Dilleen from NUIG/Cork Boat Club. The Skibbereen/Killorglin four headed them in the middle stages of the race but Cork/NUIG fought back into the headwind and pipped their rivals by .3 of a second.

In very warm and clear conditions at the National Rowing Centre in Cork, the titles were spread widely. Shannon’s Conor Carmody won the men’s junior single sculls, seeing off a good fight by David O’Malley of St Michael’s; Bridget Jacques and Jasmine English of Belfast Boat Club were clear winners of the junior double sculls; Gill Crowe and Sally O’Brien, who are lightweights, brought the women’s intermediate pair to Trinity with plenty to spare; UCC and Commercial had good wins in the men’s intermediate coxed four and the women’s novice coxed four respectively.

Amongst the most impressive winners were Eimantas Grigalius (27) and Ryan Corcoran (35) of Three Castles. They powered well clear of Commercial and Skibbereen by the finis to win the first Irish Championship for both of them. 

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods, Day One (Selected Results; Finals)

Men

Four – Intermediate, coxed: 1 UCC 7:14, 2 NUIG A 7:20, 3 Trinity A 7:22.

Sculling, Double – Senior: 1 Three Castles (R Corcoran, E Grigalius) 7:09.86, 2 Commercial 7:17.43, 3 Skibbereen 7:17.51.

Single – Junior 18: 1 Shannon (C Carmody) 8:43, 2 St Michael’s (D O’Malley) 8:48, 3 Belfast BC (G McKillan) 9:05.

Women

Four – Senior: 1 Cork/NUIG (F Judge, M O’Neill, A Wickham, L Dilleen) 7:33.22, 2 Skibbereen/Killorglin 7:33.52, 3 St Michael’s 7:25.21. Novice, coxed: 1 Commercial 8:11, 2 NUIG 8:14, 3 Queen’s 8:24.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 Trinity (G Crowe, S O’Brien) 9:22, 2 St Michael’s 9:42, 3 Commercial 9:47.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 1 Belfast BC (J English, B Jacques) 8:21, 2 Cork BC 8:32, 3 Castleconnell 8:41.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: SKIBBEREEN REGATTA: St Michael’s won the big prize in the morning session of finals at Skibbereen Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. The women’s senior eight of Jessica O’Keeffe, Aoife Leahy, Emily Tormey, Alice O’Sullivan, Kate O’Brien, Ailish Sheehan, Orla McEvoy, Hannah O’Sullivan and cox Conor McGowan saw off UCD to win well in the final eFlow Grand League Regatta of the season. The crew may be further strengthened by Sinead Jennings and Sheila Clavin, whose bid to win the double sculls was derailed with surprising aplomb by Helen Walshe and Eimear Moran of Three Castles. St Michael’s also won the women’s coxed four, and the men’s pair through Kevin O’Connor and Mike O’Brien.

John Keohane was untroubled in his win in the men’s single sculls and UCC had good wins in the coxed four and the Division Two eights, where their novice crew won a battle with the UCD novice eight.  

Skibbereen started the day with a win, though in an unexpected fashion: their senior women’s quadruple broke an oar, but the juniors stepped up to win the A Final.

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Selected Results

(Selected Results: Division One comprises senior (open, under-23 and lightweight), intermediate and junior 18A grades; Division Two comprises novice, junior 18B and junior 16 grades.)

Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 UCC (nov) 6:12.96, 2 UCD (nov) 6:15.12, 3 Cork (jun 18B) 6:20.05;

Four, coxed – Divsion One – A Final: 1 UCC (inter) 6:29.66, 2 NUIG (inter) 6:32.9, 3 Trinity (inter) 6:33.60; 4 St Michael’s (jun 18A) 6:45.78. B Final: NUIG (inter) 6:42.18.

Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 St Michael’s B (K O’Connor, M O’Brien; sen) 6:52.69, 2 St Michael’s C (sen) 6:55.62, 3 Clonmel (jun 18A) 6:55.97. B Final: St Joseph’s (jun 18A) 7:14.02; 4 Commercial (inter) 7:35.29. C Final: Blackrock College (jun 18A) 7:39.55.

Sculling,

Single – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane, sen) 7:12.18, 2 Three Castles (Grigalius, sen) 7:20.89, 3 Skibbereen (Ryan, jun 18A) 7:21.59; 4 Skibbereen (Burns, u23) 7:22.59; 6 Clonmel (Prendergast, inter) 7:23.44. B Final: Portadown (McKeown, inter) 7:31.83. C Final: 1 Three Castles (Corcoran, inter) 7:42.87; 2 Clonmel (Channon, lwt) 7:45.65. D Final: Skibbereen (Barry, inter) 7:57.57. Division Two – A Final: 1 Castleconnell (E Whittle, jun 16) 7:38.19, 2 Lee (White, jun 18B) 7:40.50, 3 Shandon (Begley, jun 18B) 7:43.82; 5 Univ of Limerick (Koyayashi; nov) 7:39.35. B Final: Waterford (Goff, jun 16) 7:41.25. C Final: Skibbereen (McCarthy, nov) 7:53.80. D Final: UCD (Toland, nov) 8:05.52.

Women

Eights – Division One – A Final: 1 St Michael’s (sen) 6:32.25, 2 UCD (sen) 6:34.32, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 6:38.68. B Final: 1 Cork (jun 18B) 6:51.83, 2 Commercial (inter) 6:52.26

Four, coxed – Division One – A Final: 1 St Michael’s (sen) 7:16.4, 2 UCC (inter) 7:26.04, 3 UCD (inter) 7:37.30.

Four, coxed – Division Two – A Final: 1 Shannon (nov) 7:39.91, 2 Trinity (nov) 7:46.61, 3 Commercial (nov) 7:48.44; 4 Shandon (jun 16) 8:22.77.

Sculling

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (Jun 18A) 7:01.73, 2 Skibbereen (sen) 7:05.47, 3 St Michael’s (jun 18A) 7:20.57. Division Two (coxed) – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (nov) 7:39.92, 2 Killorglin (jun 16) 7:53.61, 3 St Michael’s (jun 16) 8:07.04.

Double – Division One – A Final: 1 Three Castles (H Walshe, E Moran, sen) 7:13.57, 2 St Michaels (sen) 7:27.81, 3 NUIG (inter) 7:38.38; 4 Castleconnell (jun 18A) 8:02.90. Division Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (jun 18B) 8:04.89, 2 Lee (jun 18B) 8:13.12, 3 Lee (jun 16) 8:17.70. B Final: Graiguenamanagh (jun 18B) 8:29.09. C Final: Tralee (jun 18B) 8:47.99.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: The Irish Schools Championships were a happy hunting ground for Colaiste Iognaid of Galway. They won the overall title at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. The junior 18 eights was won by another Galway school, St Joseph’s, but the open fours went to Ard Scoil Ris of Limerick and the open pairs was won by twin brothers Brian Keohane and David Keohane for Presentation Brothers, Cork.

 The junior 14 quadruple sculls had an extraordinarily close finish, with Intermediate School, Killorglin shading it over Colaiste Iognaid, St Coleman's of Fermoy and Presentation, Cork.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest man at the Ireland Trials at National Rowing Centre in Cork today. However, the Lee Valley heavyweight was just nine hundredths of a second ahead of lightweight sculler Paul O’Donovan in the Time Trial. The 19-year-old from Skibbereen was assessed to have a percentage of world’s best time in his grade of 94.8 per cent – albeit with a strong tail wind. The conditions were forecast to deteriorate as the day went on and on-the-water work was done early in the morning.

Time Trial (Selected Results)

Men - Senior/Under-23/Lightweight single sculls and pairs (1900 metres; ranked on per centage of projected world best time for each class). Selected Results.

1 P O’Donovan (lightweight) 6 mins 40.85 (94.8 per cent), 2 G O’Donovan (lwt) 6:50.10 (92.7), 3 J Keohane (heavyweight) 6:40.76 (92.4), S O’Driscoll (lwt) 6:52.87 (92.0), 5 F McQuillan-Tolan/S O’Connor (heavyweight pair) 6:25.33 (91.2), 6 D Neale (hwt) 6:46.49 (91.1), 7 L Prendergast (lwt) 7:04.10 (89.6), 8 J Mitchell/M Wray (hwt pair) 6:35.16 (89.0), 9 A Burns (lwt) 7:07.79 (88.8), 10 A Boreham (hwt) 7:04.84 (87.2).

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Skibbereen Regatta and the Irish Universities’ and Schools’ Championships, scheduled for Sunday and Saturday respectively, have been postponed. Faced with the forecast of high winds and rain at the National Rowing Centre, the organisers of both events opted to seek a new date. The Domestic Events Committee of Rowing Ireland will make any decision on a new position in the calendar for the regattas. 

 Skibbereen Regatta was set to open the eFlow Grand League series. The event had a huge entry and was to run from 7.15 am to 6.15 pm.   

Published in Rowing
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About the Irish Navy

The Navy maintains a constant presence 24 hours a day, 365 days a year throughout Ireland’s enormous and rich maritime jurisdiction, upholding Ireland’s sovereign rights. The Naval Service is tasked with a variety of roles including defending territorial seas, deterring intrusive or aggressive acts, conducting maritime surveillance, maintaining an armed naval presence, ensuring right of passage, protecting marine assets, countering port blockades; people or arms smuggling, illegal drugs interdiction, and providing the primary diving team in the State.

The Service supports Army operations in the littoral and by sealift, has undertaken supply and reconnaissance missions to overseas peace support operations and participates in foreign visits all over the world in support of Irish Trade and Diplomacy.  The eight ships of the Naval Service are flexible and adaptable State assets. Although relatively small when compared to their international counterparts and the environment within which they operate, their patrol outputs have outperformed international norms.

The Irish Naval Service Fleet

The Naval Service is the State's principal seagoing agency. The Naval Service operates jointly with the Army and Air Corps.

The fleet comprises one Helicopter Patrol Vessel (HPV), three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), two Large Patrol Vessel (LPV) and two Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV). Each vessel is equipped with state of the art machinery, weapons, communications and navigation systems.

LÉ EITHNE P31

LE Eithne was built in Verlome Dockyard in Cork and was commissioned into service in 1984. She patrols the Irish EEZ and over the years she has completed numerous foreign deployments.

Type Helicopter Patrol Vessel
Length 80.0m
Beam 12m
Draught 4.3m
Main Engines 2 X Ruston 12RKC Diesels6, 800 HP2 Shafts
Speed 18 knots
Range 7000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 55 (6 Officers)
Commissioned 7 December 1984

LÉ ORLA P41

L.É. Orla was formerly the HMS SWIFT a British Royal Navy patrol vessel stationed in the waters of Hong Kong. She was purchased by the Irish State in 1988. She scored a notable operational success in 1993 when she conducted the biggest drug seizure in the history of the state at the time, with her interception and boarding at sea of the 65ft ketch, Brime.

Type Coastal Patrol Vessel
Length 62.6m
Beam 10m
Draught 2.7m
Main Engines 2 X Crossley SEMT- Pielstick Diesels 14,400 HP 2 Shafts
Speed 25 + Knots
Range 2500 Nautical Miles @ 17 knots
Crew 39 (5 Officers)

LÉ CIARA P42

L.É. Ciara was formerly the HMS SWALLOW a British Royal Navy patrol vessel stationed in the waters of Hong Kong. She was purchased by the Irish State in 1988. She scored a notable operational success in Nov 1999 when she conducted the second biggest drug seizure in the history of the state at that time, with her interception and boarding at sea of MV POSIDONIA of the south-west coast of Ireland.

Type Coastal Patrol Vessel
Length 62.6m
Beam 10m
Draught 2.7m
Main Engines 2 X Crossley SEMT- Pielstick Diesels 14,400 HP 2 Shafts
Speed 25 + Knots
Range 2500 Nautical Miles @ 17 knots
Crew 39 (5 Officers)

LÉ ROISIN P51

L.É. Roisin (the first of the Roisín class of vessel) was built in Appledore Shipyards in the UK for the Naval Service in 2001. She was built to a design that optimises her patrol performance in Irish waters (which are some of the roughest in the world), all year round. For that reason a greater length overall (78.8m) was chosen, giving her a long sleek appearance and allowing the opportunity to improve the conditions on board for her crew.

Type Long Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 78.84m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 X Twin 16 cly V26 Wartsila 26 medium speed Diesels
5000 KW at 1,000 RPM 2 Shafts
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)
Commissioned 18 September 2001

LÉ NIAMH P52

L.É. Niamh (the second of the Róisín class) was built in Appledore Shipyard in the UK for the Naval Service in 2001. She is an improved version of her sister ship, L.É.Roisin

Type Long Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 78.84m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 X Twin 16 cly V26 Wartsila 26 medium speed Diesels
5000 KW at 1,000 RPM 2 Shafts
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)
Commissioned 18 September 2001

LÉ SAMUEL BECKETT P61

LÉ Samuel Beckett is an Offshore Patrol Vessel built and fitted out to the highest international standards in terms of safety, equipment fit, technological innovation and crew comfort. She is also designed to cope with the rigours of the North-East Atlantic.

Type Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 90.0m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 x Wärtsilä diesel engines and Power Take In, 2 x shafts, 10000kw
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)

LÉ JAMES JOYCE P62

LÉ James Joyce is an Offshore Patrol Vessel and represents an updated and lengthened version of the original RÓISÍN Class OPVs which were also designed and built to the Irish Navy specifications by Babcock Marine Appledore and she is truly a state of the art ship. She was commissioned into the naval fleet in September 2015. Since then she has been constantly engaged in Maritime Security and Defence patrolling of the Irish coast. She has also deployed to the Defence Forces mission in the Mediterranean from July to end of September 2016, rescuing 2491 persons and recovering the bodies of 21 deceased

Type Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 90.0m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 x Wärtsilä diesel engines and Power Take In, 2 x shafts, 10000kw
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)

LÉ WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS P63

L.É. William Butler Yeats was commissioned into the naval fleet in October 2016. Since then she has been constantly engaged in Maritime Security and Defence patrolling of the Irish coast. She has also deployed to the Defence Forces mission in the Mediterranean from July to October 2017, rescuing 704 persons and recovering the bodies of three deceased.

Type Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 90.0m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 x Wärtsilä diesel engines and Power Take In, 2 x shafts, 10000kw
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)

LÉ GEORGE BERNARD SHAW P64

LÉ George Bernard Shaw (pennant number P64) is the fourth and final ship of the P60 class vessels built for the Naval Service in Babcock Marine Appledore, Devon. The ship was accepted into State service in October 2018, and, following a military fit-out, commenced Maritime Defence and Security Operations at sea.

Type Offshore Patrol Vessel
Length 90.0m
Beam 14m
Draught 3.8m
Main Engines 2 x Wärtsilä diesel engines and Power Take In, 2 x shafts, 10000kw
Speed 23 knots
Range 6000 Nautical Miles @ 15 knots
Crew 44 (6 Officers)

Ship information courtesy of the Defence Forces

Irish Navy FAQs

The Naval Service is the Irish State's principal seagoing agency with "a general responsibility to meet contingent and actual maritime defence requirements". It is tasked with a variety of defence and other roles.

The Naval Service is based in Ringaskiddy, Cork harbour, with headquarters in the Defence Forces headquarters in Dublin.

The Naval Service provides the maritime component of the Irish State's defence capabilities and is the State's principal seagoing agency. It "protects Ireland's interests at and from the sea, including lines of communication, fisheries and offshore resources" within the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Naval Service operates jointly with the Army and Air Corps as part of the Irish defence forces.

The Naval Service was established in 1946, replacing the Marine and Coastwatching Service set up in 1939. It had replaced the Coastal and Marine Service, the State's first marine service after independence, which was disbanded after a year. Its only ship was the Muirchú, formerly the British armed steam yacht Helga, which had been used by the Royal Navy to shell Dublin during the 1916 Rising. In 1938, Britain handed over the three "treaty" ports of Cork harbour, Bere haven and Lough Swilly.

The Naval Service has nine ships - one Helicopter Patrol Vessel (HPV), three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), two Large Patrol Vessel (LPV) and two Coastal Patrol Vessels (CPV). Each vessel is equipped with State of the art machinery, weapons, communications and navigation systems.

The ships' names are prefaced with the title of Irish ship or "long Éireannach" (LE). The older ships bear Irish female names - LÉ Eithne, LÉ Orla, LÉ Ciara, LÉ Roisín, and LÉ Niamh. The newer ships, named after male Irish literary figures, are LÉ Samuel Beckett, LÉ James Joyce, LÉ William Butler Yeats and LÉ George Bernard Shaw.

Yes. The 76mm Oto Melara medium calibre naval armament is the most powerful weapon in the Naval Services arsenal. The 76mm is "capable of engaging naval targets at a range of up to 17km with a high level of precision, ensuring that the Naval Service can maintain a range advantage over all close-range naval armaments and man-portable weapon systems", according to the Defence Forces.

The Fleet Operational Readiness Standards and Training (FORST) unit is responsible for the coordination of the fleet needs. Ships are maintained at the Mechanical Engineering and Naval Dockyard Unit at Ringaskiddy, Cork harbour.

The helicopters are designated as airborne from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours, and 45 minutes at night. The aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, on inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains and cover the 32 counties. They can also assist in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and can transport offshore firefighters and ambulance teams. The Irish Coast Guard volunteers units are expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time of departing from the station house in ten minutes from notification during daylight and 20 minutes at night. They are also expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time to the scene of the incident in less than 60 minutes from notification by day and 75 minutes at night, subject to geographical limitations.

The Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service (FOCNS) is Commodore Michael Malone. The head of the Defence Forces is a former Naval Service flag officer, now Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett – appointed in 2015 and the first Naval Service flag officer to hold this senior position. The Flag Officer oversees Naval Operations Command, which is tasked with the conduct of all operations afloat and ashore by the Naval Service including the operations of Naval Service ships. The Naval Operations Command is split into different sections, including Operations HQ and Intelligence and Fishery Section.

The Intelligence and Fishery Section is responsible for Naval Intelligence, the Specialist Navigation centre, the Fishery Protection supervisory and information centre, and the Naval Computer Centre. The Naval Intelligence Cell is responsible for the collection, collation and dissemination of naval intelligence. The Navigation Cell is the naval centre for navigational expertise.

The Fishery Monitoring Centre provides for fishery data collection, collation, analysis and dissemination to the Naval Service and client agencies, including the State's Sea Fisheries Protection Agency. The centre also supervises fishery efforts in the Irish EEZ and provides data for the enhanced effectiveness of fishery protection operations, as part of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. The Naval Computer Centre provides information technology (IT) support service to the Naval Service ashore and afloat.

This headquarters includes specific responsibility for the Executive/Operations Branch duties. The Naval Service Operations Room is a coordination centre for all NS current Operations. The Naval Service Reserve Staff Officer is responsible for the supervision, regulation and training of the reserve. The Diving section is responsible for all aspects of Naval diving and the provision of a diving service to the Naval Service and client agencies. The Ops Security Section is responsible for the coordination of base security and the coordination of all shore-based security parties operating away from the Naval base. The Naval Base Comcen is responsible for the running of a communications service. Boat transport is under the control of Harbour Master Naval Base, who is responsible for the supervision of berthage at the Naval Base and the provision of a boat service, including the civilian manned ferry service from Haulbowline.

Naval Service ships have undertaken trade and supply missions abroad, and personnel have served as peacekeepers with the United Nations. In 2015, Naval Service ships were sent on rotation to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean as part of a bi-lateral arrangement with Italy, known as Operation Pontus. Naval Service and Army medical staff rescued some 18,000 migrants, either pulling people from the sea or taking them off small boats, which were often close to capsizing having been towed into open water and abandoned by smugglers. Irish ships then became deployed as part of EU operations in the Mediterranean, but this ended in March 2019 amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the EU.

Essentially, you have to be Irish, young (less than 32), in good physical and mental health and with normal vision. You must be above 5'2″, and your weight should be in keeping with your age.

Yes, women have been recruited since 1995. One of the first two female cadets, Roberta O'Brien from the Glen of Aherlow in Co Tipperary, became its first female commander in September 2020. Sub Lieutenant Tahlia Britton from Donegal also became the first female diver in the navy's history in the summer of 2020.

A naval cadet enlists for a cadetship to become an officer in the Defence Forces. After successfully completing training at the Naval Service College, a cadet is commissioned into the officer ranks of the Naval Service as a Ensign or Sub Lieutenant.

A cadet trains for approximately two years duration divided into different stages. The first year is spent in military training at the Naval Base in Haulbowline, Cork. The second-year follows a course set by the National Maritime College of Ireland course. At the end of the second year and on completion of exams, and a sea term, the cadets will be qualified for the award of a commission in the Permanent Defence Force as Ensign.

The Defence Forces say it is looking for people who have "the ability to plan, prioritise and organise", to "carefully analyse problems, in order to generate appropriate solutions, who have "clear, concise and effective communication skills", and the ability to "motivate others and work with a team". More information is on the 2020 Qualifications Information Leaflet.

When you are 18 years of age or over and under 26 years of age on the date mentioned in the notice for the current competition, the officer cadet competition is held annually and is the only way for potential candidates to join the Defence Forces to become a Naval Service officer. Candidates undergo psychometric and fitness testing, an interview and a medical exam.
The NMCI was built beside the Naval Service base at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, and was the first third-level college in Ireland to be built under the Government's Public-Private Partnership scheme. The public partners are the Naval Service and Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and the private partner is Focus Education.
A Naval Service recruit enlists for general service in the "Other Ranks" of the Defence Forces. After successfully completing the initial recruit training course, a recruit passes out as an Ordinary Seaman and will then go onto their branch training course before becoming qualified as an Able Body sailor in the Naval Service.
No formal education qualifications are required to join the Defence Forces as a recruit. You need to satisfy the interview board and the recruiting officer that you possess a sufficient standard of education for service in the Defence Forces.
Recruit training is 18 weeks in duration and is designed to "develop a physically fit, disciplined and motivated person using basic military and naval skills" to "prepare them for further training in the service. Recruits are instilled with the Naval Service ethos and the values of "courage, respect, integrity and loyalty".
On the progression up through the various ranks, an Able Rate will have to complete a number of career courses to provide them with training to develop their skills in a number of areas, such as leadership and management, administration and naval/military skills. The first of these courses is the Naval Service Potential NCO course, followed by the Naval Service Standard NCO course and the Naval Service senior NCO course. This course qualifies successful candidates of Petty officer (or Senior Petty Officer) rank to fill the rank of Chief Petty Officer upwards. The successful candidate may also complete and graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership, Management and Naval Studies in partnership with Cork Institute of Technology.
Pay has long been an issue for just the Naval Service, at just over 1,000 personnel. Cadets and recruits are required to join the single public service pension scheme, which is a defined benefit scheme, based on career-average earnings. For current rates of pay, see the Department of Defence website.