Displaying items by tag: Department of Foreign Affairs

15th January 2012

Irish Couple Among the Rescued from Capsized Cruise Ship in Italy

#NEWS UPDATE - An Irish couple were among those rescued from the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy on Friday night, the Irish Examiner reports.

Three people are believed to have died, while 14 others were injured, after the Costa Concordia struck a sandbank and capsized off the Tuscan coastline in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The vessel was carrying more than 4,000 passengers at the time, many of whom jumped into the water as panic set in after the ship hit a rock that tore a 150ft gash in the hull.

As of Saturday three bodies had been recovered from the sea, with at least three more feared drowned.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that an Irish couple on board are safe and well, and are receiving consular assistance. Many survivors are taking refuge on the small island of Giglio close to the incident.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update

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Irish Victim Named in Australia Drowning

An Irishwoman who drowned while scuba diving in the Whitsunday Islands in Australia has been named, the Irish Examiner reports.

Elaine Morrow, 23, from Ballintra in Co Donegal, had been on a three-day beginners diving course in the island chain, off the coast of Queensland, when she was separated from her group on Monday.

It is believed the woman had been in Australia for almost a year on a working holiday visa.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has contacted the family and offered consular assistance.

An Irishwoman who drowned while scuba diving in the Whitsunday Islands in Australia has been named, the Irish Examiner reports.

Elaine Morrow, 23, from Ballintra in Co Donegal, had been on a three-day beginners diving course in the island chain, off the coast of Queensland, when she was separated from her group on Monday.

It is believed the woman had been in Australia for almost a year on a working holiday visa.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has contacted the family and offered consular assistance.

Published in Diving

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour