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13 February 2008
Cork salutes Emer with 30th celebration
By Sean O’Riordan
CORK’S city fathers yesterday saluted the 30th birthday of their adopted naval vessel, which has clocked up enough miles to get it to the moon and back.
The crew of the Lé Emer were accorded a civic reception by the lord mayor of Cork, Cllr Donal Counihan, last night to mark the birthday of the oldest serving ship in the fleet. Mr Counihan also presented the crew with a Cork Crystal vase.
Among those attending was Eugene Ryan, commander of fleet operators, one of the first onboard the 65m-long ship when she went into service in 1978. He was a navigator then and has great memories of the vessel, which made the front page of the New York Times in 1984, following her capture of the IRA gun-running trawler Marita Anne.
“The Emer was a beautiful vessel at sea and she still is. We went around the country showing her off. My memories serving on board her are some of the happiest I have,” he said.
Back then, there were no women in the navy, but today the navigation officer onboard is 28-year-old Niamh O’Donoghue. The Lé Emer was, coincidentally, also her first posting.
“I just love it. It’s a ship of great character. You’ll always meet people who have stories to tell about it,” she said.
The ship was involved in the search for bodies after the Air India bombing in 1985 in which 329 people lost their lives.
Seven years before she was the first Irish ship to arrive in Lebanon, where she resupplied UN troops working there during that county’s civil war.
She has travelled more than 500,000 nautical miles (926,000km), boarded more than 3,000 fishing vessels made 173 detentions and raised €3.6 million in fines.
In addition, Lé Emer’s seizure of a Spanish vessel illegally fishing in Irish waters in 1983 led to a record fine of £470,000.
In a ceremony on board yesterday, Lt Comdr Owen Mulowney took over captaincy of the ship from Lt Comdr Darragh Kirwan. He may well be the ship’s last captain as the vessel is fast approaching its retirement.
Flag officer commanding the naval service, Commodore Frank Lynch — who once captained the Lé Emer — said: “I will be sorry to see her go when the time for her decommissioning arrives.”
Cork salutes Emer with 30th celebration
By Sean O’Riordan
CORK’S city fathers yesterday saluted the 30th birthday of their adopted naval vessel, which has clocked up enough miles to get it to the moon and back.
The crew of the Lé Emer were accorded a civic reception by the lord mayor of Cork, Cllr Donal Counihan, last night to mark the birthday of the oldest serving ship in the fleet. Mr Counihan also presented the crew with a Cork Crystal vase.
Among those attending was Eugene Ryan, commander of fleet operators, one of the first onboard the 65m-long ship when she went into service in 1978. He was a navigator then and has great memories of the vessel, which made the front page of the New York Times in 1984, following her capture of the IRA gun-running trawler Marita Anne.
“The Emer was a beautiful vessel at sea and she still is. We went around the country showing her off. My memories serving on board her are some of the happiest I have,” he said.
Back then, there were no women in the navy, but today the navigation officer onboard is 28-year-old Niamh O’Donoghue. The Lé Emer was, coincidentally, also her first posting.
“I just love it. It’s a ship of great character. You’ll always meet people who have stories to tell about it,” she said.
The ship was involved in the search for bodies after the Air India bombing in 1985 in which 329 people lost their lives.
Seven years before she was the first Irish ship to arrive in Lebanon, where she resupplied UN troops working there during that county’s civil war.
She has travelled more than 500,000 nautical miles (926,000km), boarded more than 3,000 fishing vessels made 173 detentions and raised €3.6 million in fines.
In addition, Lé Emer’s seizure of a Spanish vessel illegally fishing in Irish waters in 1983 led to a record fine of £470,000.
In a ceremony on board yesterday, Lt Comdr Owen Mulowney took over captaincy of the ship from Lt Comdr Darragh Kirwan. He may well be the ship’s last captain as the vessel is fast approaching its retirement.
Flag officer commanding the naval service, Commodore Frank Lynch — who once captained the Lé Emer — said: “I will be sorry to see her go when the time for her decommissioning arrives.”
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