The latest Naval Service vessel, LE Niamh, is due to be launched in Devon today several months ahead of schedule, but without final agreement on purchase of its gun.
The Naval Service says it "expects" that a modern armament for the Niamh will be purchased by the State, similar to the 76mm Italian-made Oto Melara on board the LE Roisin and several other patrol ships.
However, the Department of Defence has suggested using the veteran Bofors gun which is currently on board the fleet's oldest ship, LE Deirdre.
The new 79-metre offshore vessel is a sister ship to the LE Roisin, which was also built at Appledore Shipyard in Devon and commissioned in December 1999. There was controversy over that ship's gun, too, when it was confirmed that EU funding for both patrol craft covered fisheries protection duties but not defence.
To overcome the restriction, the Exchequer paid for an Oto Melara armament. However, the "deck protection", to quote the official term, was fitted only after the Roisin left the shipyard.
The new vessel will replace the LE Deirdre, and therein lies another controversy. Dubbed "the grand old lady" of the fleet, the Deirdre is being decommissioned a year earlier than its "due date" to allow sufficient crew to be released for the new ship.
A formal decommissioning ceremony involving the Minister for Defence, set for January 8th, was cancelled at the direction of Mr Smith's department. A new date has been set for March 9th. Meanwhile, the ship is tied up and no longer on patrol but available for emergencies at 72 hours' notice.
A department spokesman said it viewed the early tie-up of the ship as "unnecessary". It would have preferred the minimum time period possible between the Deirdre's decommissioning and the arrival of the new ship. The Naval Service said the date was chosen to facilitate removal of equipment and transfer of much of the crew to the Niamh.
The LE Niamh will undergo sea trials off Devon after its fitout, and is expected to steam into Cork Harbour under the command of Lieut-Cdr Gerard O'Flynn in late April. The new ship's name was chosen following a competition run by the Minister's department which was won by Michael Kearney (13), of Oranmore, Co Galway.
