3 New Navy Vessels for Irish Naval Service

That armament is for the older Lake class class that was decommissioned in 1991, not these hulls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-class_inshore_patrol_vessel

Minister Coveney described their purchase as an interim measure.

The above is from the rte article. Are these just till we get the MCM vessels?

Thank you. He rang me a couple of days ago about this and I gave him the nod to proceed.

I’m going to go with, we aren’t getting the MCM vessels tbh.

Ideally you are right, but even if we move to anything close to LoA3 I see a few major issues, first is of course everything else, particularly the AC capital needs are going to be weighed against further new investment in the NS, second the relative youth of these two hulls are going to be held up as reasons why they can stay in use for 15+ years, thirdly even assuming the DOD manages to start managing multiple large scale procurements at the same time, by the time the MRV is now likely to be delivered, the 50s replacement will need to get underway (so can the NS/DOD manage two classes at the same time as well as the Army and AC projects?) and lastly for MCM duties that’s experience and a knowledge base that needs constant training, just look at the NATO standing groups. Even with a shift and talk about moving from our current farce of neutrality, NATO is still very much opposed, yet virtually everyone else will be focused on NATO activities.

no I think like many Irish “interim” solutions, this might end up a permanent solution to the Peacock replacement.

I think we should call them after landmarks in Northern Ireland.

LÉ Lough Erne and Lough Neagh.

Or LÉ Enniskillen and LÉ City of Derry.

Maybe that would be too much mischief.

Rivers and lakes aren't too controversial though, call them Liffey and Shannon or Corrib and Sheelin

If they were to call them after people, it would be nice, given the week thats in it, to call them Tom Crean and Ernest Shackleton, both great Irish seafarers and explorers.

Make a shortlist and get the public to vote online? Quite like the explorers idea.

I dont think naming a Óglaigh na hÉireann vessel after a Knight of the British Enpire would work!

Maybe something modern for the 2 IPVs such LE Podge & LE Rodge😁

They now have a year to get a base operational for them. It should be enoght time!

I am going to go with the glass half full and hope they will make the right choices

We named our only military airbase after a CMG holder, so why not?

Ah but he was a hero in irish folklore.

It would be easier to go back to irish female names.

Could we see irish crews going out to NZ to get experience with the two boats they still operate?

Irish female names were boring and meaningless to most.

We could re-use Setanta and Ferdia, the most noble of Celtic mythology figures.

Or perhaps Ireland's great Kings, Brian Boru and Rory O'Connor

Why is it disappointing? We are picking up two very good boats barely used at a very good price that are ideal for the irish sea

Superb ships in my opinion. Would be a great addition to the Irish Fleet. Two would be fabulous. I wonder would these be classed as frigates?

A couple of comments. The Norwegian CG ships are built to a standard to withstand extreme arctic conditions up to the ice line. Their general outfit is a modern version of the Phillips- Signaal system on the abandoned LE EITHNE which was the DA-05 AWR and the Thales LIOD Mk1 including Infra red feature, IFF, and Laser Range finding. Israeli attack craft had the LIOD Mk1 later upgraded to Mk2.

The Lake class are biggish boats for their stated tonnage. The clue is in their Friction Stir welding construction meaning they are of Aluminium or Alloy construction. We shall see and must learn to take care of SW and dissimilar metals and metal nobility. The volume per tonne could make them noisy pounders.