The brave actions of four crew members of a Naval Service ship, which nearly sunk after an incident off Cork Harbour in 1962, are to be finally recognised.

Navy veterans will be among a group planning to picket the office of Defence Minister Simon Coveney after he refused to award distinguished service Medals to two men who helped save a ship after it was rocked by a mine explosion.

Mr Mulvany’s campaign, which Sean O’Riordan reports on, (‘Global support to honour Irish Navy veterans’, August 26) is another thinly disguised attempt to compromise Ireland’s long established and most successful national defence policy, by highlighting “global support” for the recognition of the heroic action of our sailors on LÉ Clíona all those years ago.

Naval associations around the world are backing a campaign to ensure two Irish veterans are given bravery awards 53 years after they helped save a ship’s crew during an explosion.