An Cosantóir

25 By Tony O'Brien 25 YEARS OF FEMALES IN THE NAVY There is also the issue of time away at sea. "Six weeks is the longest I spent at sea when the LE Aisling was deployed on a resupply mission in 1998. This was before I had kids, so it wasn't an issue from a family perspective." Órlaith, a mother of four, is a native of Portmarnock, Co. Dublin and has been lucky enough to be able to return to her home area to live with her family while in her current role as Staff Officer Maritime Current Ops in the office of the Director of Operations and Plans in Defence Forces HQ in McKee Barracks. Even though there was no military or naval background in her family (not even a sailing one!), she opted to join the Navy because as she says "I was keen on adventure, I was always independent and thrived on challenging myself so I felt the Navy could offer me an adventurous career." Reflecting on her 25 year career, she recalls a highlight being when she was Captain of the 'Le Roisin' when they were involved with other services in one of the biggest drug busts in the history of the State off Mizen Head when a haul with an estimated value of €670m was seized. "I oversaw the operation, working with 'LE Niamh' and under the direction of Naval Operations", she recalled. A board of enquiry was established in 1993 to examine the question of female roles in the Naval Service. The board examined the integration of male and female personnel in other forces in order to gain an international perspective - specifically the Royal Navy. The board consisted of three male naval officers and one female Army officer - Capt Mary Jo O'Sullivan. Mary was embarked on LE Eithne and was involved in all the ship's operations. In their conclusions, the board accepted that military organisations are essentially social institutions and that the ideas and attitudes of the community at large will permeate the Naval Service and that the employment of women in other Navies is indicative of the trend towards a fuller integration of female personnel into all roles. The Naval Service board report contained no restrictive provisions on the deployment of female personnel and explicitly states the NS aspiration for equality of opportunity and full integration for women within the Naval Service. This was at a time in the NS that the Admin Branch was being disbanded and the NS was moving towards all personnel engaging in sea going duties. Following on from this board report in 1993, 2 female Cadets joined the NS in 1995. 3 of the 5 cadets were commissioned in 1997 including the 2 women. To the best of my knowledge this is the first and only majority female Cadet Class ever commissioned in the DF. Since 1995 there have been a number of additional firsts for women in the NS: • 1st Female Recruits - 1997 - Paula Staunton (Rtd), Joan McCabe (Rtd), Shirley McConnon (RIP) • 1st Female NCOs - 2002 - Martina Plante and Joan McCabe • 1st Female Tradeswoman - 2003 - Aisling Chapman • 1st Female Senior Officers - 2008 - Orlaith Gallagher and Roberta O'Brien • 1st Female Qualified Engineers - 2008 - Elaine Moloney & Niamh Ni Fhatharta • 1st Female Captain - 2008 - Roberta O'Brien (posted LE Aisling Nov 2008) and Orlaith Gallagher (attached to LE Roisin as Relief OC Nov 2008 – Dances with Waves drug interdiction operation) • 1st Female Senior NCO - 2012 - Honor Murphy A presentation Lt Cdr Orlaith Gallagher gave to J3/5 on International Women's day 2020 In 1990 the General Staff published 'Policy on the deployment of females in the Defence Forces'. The policy outlined specific roles that women in the DF could engage – it excluded them from direct combat roles. Interestingly it also excluded them from Intelligence roles – something that the IRA had actively encouraged 70 years earlier! A/SBA Sandra Daly poses for a photo with her family, Minister with responsibility for Defence Paul Kehoe TD and COS Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM after she was awarded the International Operational Service Medal Lt Comdr's Downing (right) & Gleeson (Left) pictured back in 2013 during the first handover between 2 female Capt's of the Navy on the now de-commissioned Lé Aoife A female member of Cúltaca on parade holding the International Operational Service medals before they were awarded to members of the Navy at a ceremony held in Dún Laoghaire Harbour in 2016

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