An Cosantóir

4 The connection between Ireland and the seas that surround us is ancient as it is fundamental to our understanding of ourselves. Our seas have played an integral and formative role in our social, cultural and economic history. Through our existence at Europe's periphery, our proximity to water has informed that consciousness present in island people of a particular form of vulnerability to the forces of nature that surround us. It was ever-present as we contemplated and interacted with the world beyond landfall and sought to fashion a sustainable future from that great natural benefactor that constitutes our marine environment. Dependent on the sea, as we have been for millennia, for trade and connection with close and distant neighbours, it has been of the utmost importance that vital sea-lanes be safeguarded. Our seas are central to the story of our people. With the life-giving bounty that the ocean has provided, and the possibilities that it presented to our people, the seas are also woven tightly into the joy, achievement, tragedy and loss of our past. While it was from across the sea that all of our ancestors arrived, changing and enriching our societies as they came, not everyone conveyed to our shores by sea had benevolent intent or the welfare of the Irish people at heart. In the 19th century, the ocean was synonymous with forced emigration on Famine ships, escaping An Gorta Mór of the 1840s, with so many perishing en route to North America. In the 20th century, many more crossed the Irish Sea in pursuit of opportunity that not available at home. In recent times, the relationship thankfully has become more positive. The Treaty of 1922, in which 26 Counties gained their independence, did not however grant control of the seas around our coastline to the newly independent state. It would be 1938 before Great Britain surrendered the Treaty Ports and control of Irish waters. In May 1939, the Irish government ordered two motor torpedo boats from Britain which were to become Ireland's first naval vessels. The process of raising some type of navy was greatly accelerated by the outbreak of World War II, as Ireland was required to have its own navy to uphold its neutrality. By 1941, the Marine Service consisted of 10 craft and approximately 300 personnel. Their tasks during the war included mine laying, regulation of merchant ships, the upkeep of navigational aids and fishery protection. In September 1946, the Irish Government decided that the Marine Service should become a permanent component of the Defence Forces. Thus was born the modern-day Irish Naval Service. In line with our national and international commitments, the Navy protects Ireland's interests through its responsibility to defend territorial seas, to conduct maritime surveillance, and to tackle illegal fishing, smuggling, illegal dumping and pollution. Remarkably, the Naval Service is responsible for patrolling an area more than ten times the size of Ireland's landmass. Looking back, it was during the 1970s and 1980s that the Naval Service first received significant investment, including the purchase of many of the ships it still operates today. By 1996 when the Naval Service celebrated its 50th Anniversary, it had progressed from being a small unit to a rapidly growing organisation, undertaking its duties with distinction. Fishery protection played an important role in the Service's day-to-day operations, as demonstrated through the numerous detentions made annually for infringements found during boarding operations. It was also during this period that the Service became involved in combating a new threat – drug smuggling. It is still involved, on a constant basis, in patrolling our waters and preventing illegal drugs from reaching Irish shores. During the 1990s, the Service carried out Resupply Missions to Lebanon, Cyprus and the former Yugoslavia, ensuring that the needs of Irish peacekeepers were met. Developments ashore continued apace with the construction of the National Maritime College of Ireland, a partnership between the Departments of Defence and Education and Munster Technology University. This state-of- the-art facility opened for its inaugural students in 2004, representing a significant advance in the training environment for Naval Service personnel. The deployment of Irish Naval vessels to the Mediterranean to engage in humanitarian search-and-rescue tasks, as part of Operation Pontus from 2015 to 2017, was an important element in Ireland's response to the migration crisis in the Mediterranean. Overall, 17,509 migrants were rescued under Operation Pontus in a bilateral arrangement with the Italian authorities. This humanitarian response is an example of the very best of our values as a society. I also wish to commend the Naval Service's role in 2017 and 2018 in Operation Sophia, the EU Naval Mission which specifically sought to counter human trafficking and smuggling in the Mediterranean by taking action against criminal networks and disrupting the people smugglers' modus operandi. The Naval Service has a tradition of excellence, one of which we all can be proud. The commitment and loyalty of the Navy's personnel has provided ballast for significant operations over the years – from search-and- rescue operations, such as the 1985 Air India tragedy, to numerous drug interdictions, to humanitarian operations, and, most recently, the role played in the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting the HSE by deploying vessels and operating testing sites in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The Naval Service is part of our DNA, a great success story in the State's history. As part of Óglaigh na hÉireann, its existence is fundamental to the safeguarding of our State and our people. With this emphasis on defence, it is different from any other force established for aggressive purpose or for aggrandisement of interests. I am very proud of its work participating in multinational peace, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations, including regional security missions authorised by the UN. Over a hundred years ago, Eoin MacNeill sought three qualities from those who had volunteered to serve in Óglaigh na hÉireann: courage, vigilance and discipline. These are the same attributes that are embodied in the oath taken by those who volunteer to serve in the Naval Service and wider Defence Forces. Gabhaim buíochas lena pearsanra go léir as ucht a gcuid oibre dian agus a dúthracht. Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann agus Ardcheannasaí na Fórsaí Cosanta, ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh, atá ag ceiliúradh 75ú bliain ar an uisce. Molaim sibh agus traoslaím leis na fir agus mná ar fad a thug seirbhís sa chabhlach ar son a dtír thar na blianta fada sin. PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS 75TH ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE TO THE IRISH NAVAL SERVICE Michael D. Higgins Uachtarán na hÉireann THE PRESIDENT

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