Two young Clare men are among nine in the country to have this month become Irish Navy officers.
Earlier this month, the Naval Services headquarters in Haulbowline hosted their passing out parade. The newly commissioned officers joined the 57th Naval Cadet Class in September 2017 going to sea for the first time on the LÉ Eithne before spending four months in the Curragh at the Cadet School. While at the Defence Forces Training Centre, they mixed with the Army and Air Corps Cadet classes.
In January of last year, they resumed training at the Naval Base with the focus on leadership skills. Further courses followed on firefighting, damage control, communications, gunnery, engineering, fishery protection, logistics and military law.
For their cadetship, they chose Cork Mental Health as their charity which they raised over €3,000 for through fundraisers conducted in May. They later served on the LÉ William Butler Yeats.
Ardnarcusha’s Patrick Kearns is one of the recruits and a former Irish and Munster rugby player, representing them both at U20 level. He graduated from the University of Limerick with a degree in journalism and new media.
John Howe from Deerpark, Bunratty completes the Clare contingent in the 57th Naval Cadet Class. He has lined out for the county soccer team at youths level and was once an airline security agent at Shannon Airport.
Since their commission, the cadets are on leave and will return to sea in the coming weeks to continue their training.
