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Simon Coveney News

14 Dec 2020

Leaders Push Brexit Trade Talks Beyond Sunday Deadline

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

London and Brussels agreed on Sunday to “go the extra mile” in coming days to try to reach an elusive trade agreement despite missing their latest deadline to avert a turbulent exit for Britain from the European Union’s orbit at the end of the month.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the EU’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen had given negotiators a Sunday deadline to find a way to resolve an impasse on arrangements that would guarantee Britain zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU’s single market.On Sunday they mandated negotiators to continue…

31 Jan 2018

Irish Wave Buoy to Be Deployed at US Navy Test Site

A smaller prototype tested in Galway Bay, Ireland. (Photo: Ocean Energy)

Despite some 7,000 miles separating Ireland and Hawaii, the two islands have a lot in common. The islands’ peoples have always looked to their respective oceans for resources, inspiration and opportunity. Today, Irish company Ocean Energy announced its wave energy convertor OE Buoy will be built by Oregon-based Vigor and deployed at the U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site on the windward coast of the Hawaiian Island of O’ahu in the fall of 2018. The contract value is $6.5 million out of a total project value of $12 million for this first of a kind grid scale project at the U.S.

06 Aug 2015

More Than 200 Feared Dead in Sinking of Migrant Boat

Hopes faded of finding more survivors on Thursday from a shipwreck in which 200 migrants are feared drowned, as rescue ships were called to the aid of more migrant boats in the same area of the Mediterranean. "We are witnessing a genocide caused by European selfishness," said Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando as the Irish navy ship LE Niamh docked in the port carrying some 370 survivors of Wednesday's disaster and 25 corpses, including three children. Orlando, speaking on Italian television as hearses arrived to take the bodies away, called on European leaders to do more to prevent such disasters and to allow more refugees to re-settle in their countries. After the survivors disembarked, some were escorted back on board to see if they could identify the dead children.

28 Jul 2015

Voyager IP Wins Irish Navy Satellite Contract

Left to right: Rory Fitzpatrick, ceo, National Space Center; Simon Coveney TD, Minister of Defense, Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Commodore Hugh Tully, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service and John Makarus, operations director, Voyager IP at the launch of the new satellite service (Photo: Voyager IP)

Voyager IP, the Irish marine telecoms solutions specialist, has partnered with the Irish National Space Center to win a €500,000 contract to manage the entire satellite communications service for the Irish Naval Fleet at home and abroad. Voyager IP will provide the satellite airtime, technical assistance for the onboard systems and a 24 hour helpdesk from its base in Wicklow, while the National Space Center will provide the satellite network infrastructure. Simon Coveney TD, the Irish Minister for Defense, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, officially launched the new service.

22 Jan 2014

Safety Code Revised for Small Fishing Vessels

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has welcomed the publication by the Irish Maritime Administration in his Department of a revised Code of Practice for the Design, Construction, Equipment and Operation of Small Fishing Vessels (less than 15 meters length). The Code, which was last revised in 2005, has been updated to ensure that the experiences gained from its implementation as well as relevant recommendations by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) have been incorporated. The revised Code will come into operation from 3rd March 2014. Small fishing vessels are already required to carry EPIRBs (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons).

09 Jun 2013

EU Agrees Important New Fisheries Legislation

Fishing Law Reform:Image courtesy of Greenpeace

After 2-years of negotiations, the European Union (EU) agrees a workable deal on fisheries reform to recover fish stocks and support low-impact fishing. Following late-night talks, Irish fisheries minister Simon Coveney, representing the Council of European ministers, and European Parliament negotiator Ulrike Rodust MEP, announced in a press conference that a compromise had been reached on the main aspects of reform. The Parliament and EU ministers have been at odds over how ambitious the EU’s failing Common Fisheries Policy should be.