Simon Coveney: Naval fleet to be expanded if Fine Gael re-elected

Fine Gael is pledging to expand the Irish naval fleet from eight ships to nine if re-elected to office, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

The promise is contained in the party’s manifesto, which will be launched in Dublin tomorrow. Defence Minister Simon Coveney has confirmed the detail of the report, seen by this newspaper, which would represent a major boost for Cork.

The manifesto commits to delivering the extra ship within the timeframe of the most recent Defence White Paper which is 10 years, but, Mr Coveney said he expects it to be delivered much sooner than that, most likely in the lifetime of the new government.