The Limerick ambassadorial ketch Ilen arrived on the Liffey River at Dublin in the late hours of Sunday after a fast passage, and since then has been out daily from Poolbeg Y & BC's marina on Dublin Bay with a local crew of very enthusiastic winter sailors.
However, a ship from the west can somehow never be in Dublin without historic undertones, and yesterday evening as Ilen returned to port, she was recorded on RTE TV News as the cross-channel cargo ferry Clipper Pennant headed seaward in unfettered style, bound for a UK port as tortuous Brexit negotiations in London and Brussels were reaching a final stage which may make such regular smooth occurrences into much more red-tape-obstructed affairs.
As Ilen Marine School Project Manager Gary Mac Mahon comments, it's ironic that after 70 years of service in the isolated self-governing British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands, Ilen should find herself inadvertently at the centre of a news item which is built around the business of Britain isolating herself from Ireland and Europe.
Happily, there have been more congenial topics to focus on as Ilen's visit continues in conjunction with Sailing Into Wellness, Coolmine, Tiglin and @tolkariver. As it happens, just upstream of @tolkariver's base where the Tolka Estuary starts to become a river, we find Croke Park, and there in a very historic encounter thus Sunday, Limerick will play Waterford in the All-Ireland Hurling Final 2020 on December 13th.
Regular crew and 200 per cent Limerick man Mike Grimes arrived with the Ilen in Dublin with his kitbag somehow hiding an enormous Limerick GAA flag. Indeed, it might well be the largest banner to be flown in Dublin in support of the Limerick Team and their upcoming Senior Hurling All-Ireland Final, and once in port Mike lost no time in asserting his allegiance.
Up for the match – Limerick hurling fan and Ilen crewman Mike Grimes makes no secret of his loyalties aboard ship at Poolbeg this week. Photo: Gary MacMahon
Once out of the bag, Mike sent the battle flag up Ilen's seventy-foot mast in support of a sport and a team that is his passion even above his lifelong boating adventures. The Ilen has five days of community work with Sailing into Wellness and their clients before she turns south again, making her steady way home to Limerick. Hopefully, this will be in celebration of a win on Sunday, but if there is a successful outcome, she may have to think about getting home northabout, as otherwise, she'll be sailing close along the coast of Waterford…
