LÉ Eithne
Sorcha Pollak, in the Irish Times, reports:
“The Irish naval vessel LÉ Eithne is to be dispatched to the Mediterranean sea to participate in an EU search and rescue mission for migrants fleeing north Africa, the Minister for Defence has said. Simon Coveney told RTE radio [this] morning the navy was preparing the LÉ Eithne so it would be ready to leave for the Mediterranean by Friday, May 8th.”
“He said the vessel was being prepared in Haulbowline naval base in Cork harbour so that it could “successfully save people and drop them to local ports in the vicinity of the Mediterranean”.”
“Asked whether there was any plan in place to bring migrants back to the Republic of Ireland, Mr Coveney said it wouldn’t be practical to be picking people up from the sea and bringing them back to the State.”
LÉ Eithne to participate in migrant search and rescue (Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times)
LÉ Eithne will be ready to travel to Mediterranean on Friday (Morning Ireland, RTÉ)
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