All aboard but Coveney misses the boat...

Time and tide wait for no man, as Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney should well know.

So there were some red faces at the start of a major naval festival yesterday as a ship carrying Minister for Defence Alan Shatter and other dignitaries pulled out of the deep water quay in Cobh without Mr Coveney.

He had been attending the launch of a new type of lifejacket in the nearby heritage centre and arrived at the quay just as the LÉ Eithne slipped her moorings on the way out to take a salute from other Irish naval vessels and warships from Britain, France, Belgium, and Russia.

Undaunted, Mr Coveney later caught up with the LÉ Eithne after hitching a ride on a pilot boat and scrambling up a rope ladder.

“You tried your best to leave me behind,” he joked to Mr Shatter.

“They were dead right to leave me there. It’s a big ship and it was very windy. The moral of the story is that the military wait for nobody and they’re right,” Mr Coveney said later.

#agriculture minister Simon Coveney climbs aboard LE Eithne off #Camden for #international fleet review pic.twitter.com/B3d35DuF3s

— JennïeØSullivân (@OSullivanJennie) October 18, 2013

In the interim, the LÉ Eithne had gone out as far as Roche’s Point to turn before sailing back to review the assembled ships.

The outward journey was choppy to say the least and in the wardroom downstairs navy officers tried to reassure invited VIPs that things would get better soon.

“That’s a bit like what they say at the dentist’s,” said county manager, Martin Riordan, as cups started to slide across the table next to him.

However, the officers were right and within a few minutes some people who had started to look decidedly green recovered their more usual complexion.

Mr Shatter took the salutes from the assembled vessels in a peaked cap presented to him by the Naval Service.

He said he was delighted to attend the event and added that the delivery of two new ships to replace the LÉ Emer and LÉ Aoife was on target.

The replacement ships, which will cost a combined €98m, are being constructed in a shipyard in Appledore, Devon.

The LÉ Samuel Beckett will replace the LÉ Emer next spring and a year later the LÉ James Joyce will replace the LÉ Aoife.

The public will be allowed to access the vessels taking part in the festival — except HMS Northumberland — at Custom House Quay at 12pm-4pm today and 1pm-4pm on Sunday.

Access to the Russian ship, docked in Cobh, will be until 6pm today and 5pm on Sunday.

As part of the weekend ceremonies each of the ships will perform a synchronised lowering of its flags at sunset (today 6.30pm and Sun 6.28pm) before lighting the ships up during the hours of darkness.

Iarnród Éireann is offering a 10% discount on weekend trains for people in Cork wanting to visit the Russian ship and to people in Cobh who want to see the ships docked in the harbour. To avail of this book rail tickets online using the discount code CRWR2571.