South American odyssey to mark naval icon

A flagship Irish naval vessel will set sail for Argentina to join in celebrations commemorating an iconic Co Mayo man credited with founding the South American country’s navy, it was confirmed today.

Commander Mark Mellet will be taking the LE Eithne’s helm on next month’s voyage to South America where Admiral William Brown’s defence of Argentina’s shores in 1814 made him a national hero.

In accepting the invitation from the Argentine government to travel, Commander Mellet pledged the Irish Navy would follow Brown’s traits as a humanitarian by working to help NGOs and missionaries as well as providing a potential recruitment platform for health service providers.

On the admiral, whose feats are virtually unknown in Ireland, he said: “William Brown is an iconic figure in Argentina much like John F Kennedy is to the US, so we are delighted that the flag officers agreed to send Ireland’s flagship down there to do that.

“But we won’t be just doing the conventional, in terms of protocol and the diplomatic side.”

He added: “We are going to be unconventional, we will deliver services wherever we can. Brown had two traits, first of all he used to think outside the box and he was a humanitarian.”

Commander Mellet said the ship would be used by Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin as a platform for information exchange with health service providers in the South American country with a view to potentially recruiting nursing staff.