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THE LÉ GEORGE BERNARD Shaw, Ireland’s fourth Offshore Patrol Vessel, has officially been named and commissioned at a ceremony in Waterford this afternoon.
The ship, which was built in Appledore Shipyard by Babcock Marine, was formally commissioned by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today.
Its name follows in the tradition of those given in the literary tradition to the three other ships in the Naval Service’s P60 class.
The LÉ Samuel Beckett was delivered in April 2014; the LÉ James Joyce was delivered in 2015; and the LÉ William Butler Yeats, which was delivered in 2016.
The ceremony took place on Frank Cassin Wharf in Waterford earlier today, and was also attended by Minister with Responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe.
Speaking at the launch today, the Taoiseach said that Shaw would be proud to have the ship named after him, and that the vessel would emark on a “distinguished mission of service” to the State for decades to come.
“Our Naval Service faces a wide range of challenges, now more so than ever,” he said.
“Our ships assert the sovereignty and integrity of our territorial waters; they protect both the waters of our country and the European Union.
“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the personnel of the Naval Service for their work in fishery protection, marine search and rescue, and the many other tasks you perform selflessly.”
Óglaigh na hÉireann / Twitter
Óglaigh na hÉireann / Twitter / Twitter
He highlighted the important humanitarian work carried out by the Naval Service in the Mediterranean, which he said has saved thousands of lives, and expressed gratitude to the service for its work there.
The Taoiseach also extended his best wishes to the ship’s new captain, Lieutenant Commander Philip Dicker, and her crew.
“I know you are all looking forward to working the ship to its full potential. And I wish you all safe sailing.”
The ship, which has been taking part in maritime defence and security operations since last October, will continue to assist the Naval Service in a variety of roles.
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In my opinion every major problem in the country at present simply stems from the fact that we cannot cope with our population increasing by 50 percent in the last 30 years.
We have a civil and public service rooted in the 18th century ( to administer the British Empire) trying to cope with a set of 21st century issues.
Not sure what the solutions are, but a good place to start is admitting you have a problem in the first place, and unfortunately I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
@Gerry Kelly: Ireland’s economy has expanded in multiples of that over the same period. As a country without resources, people are needed or Ireland goes back to the 70s/80s when no one had a job.
Successive governments have failed to recognise the population growth. New infrastructure and perhaps even whole new cities are needed. We have the space but no capacity. Not recognising this is where the responsibility lays.
@Gerry Kelly: spot on
@Gerry Kelly: Gerry that’s exactly it. They’re all stuck in the past and they can’t move forward for a modern Ireland what we need for future generations. I think it’s time to get rid of the old school system and bring in younger thinking people including getting rid of governments who do not provide value for money. Ireland looks great on paper but when you open the press everything falls out, it’s like a third world country the way it’s been run absolutely no logic whatsoever. Stuck in the past.
@Panti Bliss: we were told they are great for our economy. Aren’t they enriching the owner of the red cow hotel?
@Bren: I think everyone would agree with you but there is not one in government or opposition that fits that bill.
Ireland’s yo-yo economy repeatedly swings from property booms to devastating busts.
Each crisis is driven by inadequate government policies. 1970s,1980s, early 1990s, 2008 & a new one on the horizon.
When will a government understand housing should not be a commodity and overheating an economy will consistently cause a bust with profound economic distress….
@Bat Boy: apparently the government have finally listened to the irish fiscal advisory council and are using the apple tax money in a counter-cyclical way. They will spend it on infrastructure and housing when the next crash comes.
This should keep more builders in work at that time, stop them from emigrating, and develop a lot of the infrastructure when it is a bit cheaper to do it. And it will help get ireland out of its recession and to not overheat the economy now.
The government also has a lot of unspent funds for construction, because the industry doesn’t have the workforce to absorb it all.
The article is about regulations and planning, which do need to be sorted out.
@Brian Lynch: so at least some acknowledge there will be a crash
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: really? When?
@Bat Boy: Don’t be such a crackpot Marxist. Building a house takes materials, labor and capital, none of which are free. If you strip away the profit motive, who exactly is supposed to invest in building homes? Governments, who can’t even fill potholes efficiently? Houses don’t just appear out of thin air! Every essential good and service in society operates under supply and demand. The alternative is government rationing, which leads to shortages and inefficiency. Some of the biggest housing disasters in modern history came from this idea that housing should be a “human right” instead of a commodity. The Soviet Union, Venezuela, Cuba and East Germany have tried this and miserably failed. Government-controlled housing led to tiny, overcrowded apartments and decades-long waiting lists.
@Bat Boy: Every country has a boom and bust…..is the government in charge of all countries?
Governments promising x number of houses per year is absolutely hilarious and one of the biggest election sham promises possible to drop to the public. NO government builds houses. They can waffle about policies all they want. If it’s not profitable enough for the private contractors to build then no mass building will be done, if man power and skills isn’t available to build at the speed required it won’t be done. sites will sit there and no amount of spin and waffle on the news and radio is changing that.
@Dan The Man: If building houses was such a money spinner why are billions and billions sitting idly in savings accounts. The chilling effect of the risk of a left wing government is still in the background even though the media failed to get them elected recently.
@thomas molloy: the short answer is that the banks can make more profit from lending thos money to the ECB than risking it on loans to property developers.
The government is complicit in this as a shareholder in aib
It’s all as it is supposed to be.
High prices = more tax revenue.
High rents suit our politicians
especially those with multiple rentals.
Enormous numbers of other rental properties owned by Chinese/US or Canadian investment firms they would not be investing if not highly profitable and they are controlling the rental prices to suit.
Plus on the quiet our government are pouring money (your taxes) in to NGOs here for purchasing homes in bulk but they don’t ever mention these.
Funny how not investing in infrastructure for years seems to have nothing to do with either ff or fg considering one or the other has been in power since the establishment of the state…
This mess on housing was made by FF or FG led governments. Minister in the late 1980′s scrapping building apprenticeships and wider apprenticeship schemes has caught up. whilst large swathes of public owner land banks in county council hands was given away to the political funder builder buddies of FF and FG for miniscule amounts of money. Corruption of various tribunals adds to the mes.
Well, what a surprise (not)!!!!
Another disaster from the government how much more of this is Ireland actually going to accept , whatever happened to the fighting Irish getting out on the streets and telling the government we want better services for our taxes I think sometimes they forget they work for us , as this is disgraceful in 2025
@Bren: the problem is with the electorate, we prefer to get a few quid in the budget rather than be grown ups and spend the money on infrastructure projects that will benefit the people. Imagine a political party saying they want to increase taxes to pay for a reservoir that won’t be finished for 10 years, they wouldn’t have a chance of getting elected.
No roads,no water,no sewage,no apprenticeships,NO HOUSES…simple as.
Unfortunately, the sham government we have thinks about nothing only Europe and Europe only, stay at home, roll up your sleeves, and get stuff sorted ye overpaid fat C##ts
Not true. Huge well connected area in D13 on which developers are just sitting for decades. They gamble on more lucrative planning permissions or they won’t built.
A good article. A good example of why simplistic calls to just ’build more houses’ ignore the more nuanced issues. Could be said for a lot of topics here and abroad. Simple answers to complex questions seem neat and tidy but can often reflect a naivety.
Maybe we SHOULD spend the money on missiles after all. Less houses to get blown up during an inevitable crushing invasion lasting 1 hour.
Can all those people with their plans f off abroad. And build their inferstructur.. My local area has lost facilities in recent years due to increasing population.
I’m living in missile silo in my parents back garden hoping war does not break out. Cosy multi story!
@Go Home Tech Bro: lol.
Goes back to a 1980′s led FF government scrapped all building apprenticeship schemes and sold off all County a d state ka d banks to their business and building landlord FG buddies for a song. We’re all paying for that hubris
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