Civilians and Army to help understaffed Navy monitor Irish waters post-Brexit

The Naval Service is suffering a manpower crisis and, as a result, it needs every available person to man patrols, hence the recruitment of outside personnel to aid fisheries monitoring. Pictured is the LÉ Róisín.

A number of soldiers, civil servants and civilian clerks are being drafted in to help the understrength Naval Service monitor fishing vessels in Irish-controlled waters post-Brexit.

Both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence confirmed the move ahead of an expected increase in monitoring workload at the national Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) which is located at Haulbowline Naval Base in Co. Cork. It monitors vessels on a 24-hour basis every day of the year.