Irish Navy's LÉ Niamh opens Helsinki’s fleet visit season

Irish Naval Service offshore patrol vessel will be moored in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari over weekend

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LÉ Niamh, a Róisín-class offshore patrol vessel from the Irish Naval Service, is to visit Helsinki’s Jätkänsaari over the weekend. The general public will have access to the ship.
      This year’s first naval visitor will continue to Turku on Tuesday, where it will stay until Thursday.
      The nearly 80-metre vessel carries a crew of 44, headed by its commanding officer Lt. Cdr. Kenneth Minehane.
      The ship’s maximum speed is 23 knots and it is powered by two diesel engines made by Finnish Wärtsilä.
     
The vessel, launched in 2001, patrols Ireland’s demanding waters all year round. It has also sailed the world’s seas more extensively, and for example in 2002 it carried out the first-ever Irish military vessel visit to China, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia.
      In the vessel’s name, LÉ refers to an Irish ship, just as the designation HMS in the UK or USS in the United States.
      Niamh, in turn, refers to the queen of Tír na nÓg, a character from Irish mythology.
     
The guests will take part in the bicentennial celebrations of the Diet of Porvoo. The Irish Health Minister Mary Harney, Ambassador Philip McDonagh and the ship’s commanding officer Minehane with their entourage will visit Porvoo on Sunday, where they will salute Johan Anders Jägerhorn’s commemorative tablet.
      Jägerhorn was involved with Irish nationalist politics towards the end of the 18th century, some ten years before he took part in the Diet of Porvoo.
      Jägerhorn was connected among others with the leader of the Irish liberation movement Lord Edward Fitzgerald.
     
     
LÉ Niamh will be open to the public in Jätkäsaari on Saturday and Sunday at 13:00-15:00.


Links:
  LÉ Niamh (P52) (Wikipedia)
  Diet of Porvoo (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat