A former senior army officer has claimed that civilian officials in the Department of Defence are interfering with operational issues, which should only be a matter for the Defence Forces.

There was a time when surnames such as Murphy, Keane and Quinn would predominate among new recruits at passing out parades in the Naval Service.

Junior officers in the naval service were regularly ‘acting down’ to fulfill duties normally carried out by ordinary and able seamen due to staff shortages months before two vessels were docked due to staff shortages.

It's somewhat ironic the Naval Service's commander spends most of his days on Haulbowline Island, just a stone's throw from Spike Island where three of his granduncles were interned in 1921 – and a fact he only found out two years ago.

Two decorated former senior Naval Service officers have called on Paul Kehoe, the junior defence minister, to resign.

The joint Oireachtas committee on foreign affairs and defence has been urged to visit Naval Service headquarters to investigate for itself how bad manpower levels are.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence has been urged to visit Naval Service headquarters to investigate for itself how bad manpower levels are.

A former Army private, a rugby international, a martial arts instructor and a one-time IT recruitment consultant are among nine young men who have become the latest additions to the Naval Service officers' ranks.

The naval service is to tie-up two of its ships in port indefinitely due to a deepening manpower crisis.

Horses for courses will be one of the themes of Cheltenham Festival week with history consistently showing the importance of course form when it comes to the four most magical days in the racing calendar.

The Irish Naval Service (INS) was disappointed by the decision of UCC and Cork Institute of Technology to shut down earlier this year a maritime research facility on which the three collaborated.

The crew of LÉ William Butler Yeats is fully trained and equipped to deal with a new role in Operation Sophia, according to the ship’s commander.

The stepfather of a soldier who died after falling ill at his army barracks told his funeral yesterday he was very proud when the late Daniel Donougher called him Dad for the first time.

Joe Fitzgerald who died on September 13, 2016, at the age of 94, was a man of very diverse activities — star businessman, Master of Slua Muiri in the 40s, Dinghy and Dragon sailor in the 50s and 60s — cruising man, Commodore of the Irish Cruising Club and Commodore of the Royal Cork in the 70s and 80s and friend and companion to all who knew him.

Three champions of Cork City’s poor and homeless were among those honoured with civic awards last night.

Organisations representing officers and enlisted men in the Naval Service have criticised the lengthy delay in awarding what they term as a rightful allowance to crews working on the humanitarian rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Naval Service yesterday pointed to an increasing number of third-level graduates entering the force as ordinary recruits.

The Irish Naval Service set sail yesterday to help launch one of the country’s top international regattas.

The head of the Naval Service is supporting a call that personnel working on humanitarian rescue missions in the Mediterranean be given a higher overseas duty allowance.

The crew of LÉ Niamh will return home on Friday, October 2, but it is still unknown if the Government will send a replacement ship out to the Mediterranean Sea to aid the EU-led operation to save migrants attempting to make the crossing from North Africa into Europe.

Naval Service history was made yesterday as LÉ Éithne and LÉ Niamh saluted each other in the Mediterranean, with the former heading home and the latter on her way to rescue migrants trying to get from North Africa to Europe.

The Naval Service is getting a new satellite communications system which will be operated by Irish companies.

After a four-day series that delivered a full range of conditions, Howth Yacht Club’s Ross McDonald and the crew of Equinox won the Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale on Saturday.

The sinking of the Lusitania is a story that has gripped the imagination of the world over the intervening decades and filled the pages of many books and articles, President Michael D Higgins said in his speech marking the centenary commemorations.

The Naval Service’s most senior officer says his personnel are ready and willing to create history by joining anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.

The force is turning to smart technology and recruiting new personnel to help patrol our territorial waters, writes Sean O’Riordan

The Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service, Commodore Hugh Tully, yesterday took the salute at the passing out parade of 36 recruits.

A US navy “black box” detector made its debut in the hunt for flight MH370 but Australia’s search chief warned it was crunch time as the box’s signal is set to expire soon.

Australia’s prime minister has said he is hopeful a clue will emerge soon to narrow the hunt for Flight MH370, as more objects were pulled from the Indian Ocean and checked to see if they were part of the missing plane.

Two men who live in Carrigaline have received notable appointments in the Naval Service, one as its boss and the other as captain of its newest vessel, LÉ Samuel Beckett, when it arrives in the spring.

Commodore Mark Mellett is set to become the most senior Irish naval officer in the history of the State following his appointment as Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) of the Defence Forces.

Today will mark one of the biggest displays of naval firepower seen in Cork harbour for many years.

They came to say goodbye to an old lady who served her country faithfully for 35 years, during which time she sailed the equivalent distance to the moon and back.

The Naval Service will hold a special decommissioning service on the LÉ Emer next Friday and the vessel is to be sold off through public auction on Oct 23.

Divers have plucked two more bodies from a sunken passenger ferry and scrambled to plug an oil leak in the wreckage after a collision with a cargo ship.

Armed Naval Service teams from one of their ships boarded a sister vessel off the south coast as part of agency’s ongoing battle against drug smuggling.

Kennedy always got close to Irish crowds, writes Ray Ryan

For the first time the Naval Service has promoted women to the rank of petty officer, a position acknowledged as the backbone of the service.

The victims of the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania were honoured at a ceremony in Co Cork yesterday.

Exercises continuing off the Cork coast have demonstrated the professionalism of the naval services, Commodore Mark Mellett said yesterday.

A new generation of ships being built for the naval service will carry unmanned planes along with deep sea search and rescue robot submarines.

Gunmen opened fire on a political rally in Karachi, Pakistan today, killing at least nine people and sparking rioting, police said.

Ireland will have the “smartest, most innovative and responsive” navy in the world within the next few years.