Salute to the new crew

RUNNING away to sea came with parental approval when some very special children temporarily joined the ranks of the Irish Navy.

The youngsters were all patients of the country’s biggest children’s hospital, Our Lady’s in Crumlin, Dublin, and were enjoying an outing on the naval service’s biggest ship, the LE Eithne.

Ship and hospital have teamed up in a novel twinning arrangement under which Eithne’s commander and crew have adopted Our Lady’s as a priority charity for fundraising. They have also pledged to lower the gangplank for any child who has come under the care of Our Lady’s.

A lucky group of 12 young patients who were well enough to leave their wards for the morning were the first to sample the ship’s hospitality when she dropped anchor at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin yesterday.

After touring the vessel’s innards, inspecting her navigation and communications systems and testing the crew’s knowledge of their 81-metre-long home, they got down to the serious business of trying on sailor hats, having their faces painted and dining at the captain’s table.