THE FIRST woman to command a Naval Service patrol ship is due to take over the helm of the LE Aislingtoday.
Lieut Cdr Roberta O'Brien from the Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary, will be appointed formally at a handover ceremony in Galway docks this afternoon. The venue was selected because the LE Aislingis twinned with Galway city.
Lieut Cdr O'Brien, who is married to Army officer Capt Peadar Ó Catháin and is in her early 30s, joined the Naval Service in 1995.
She has strong family links with the Defence Forces. Her mother, also Roberta, grew up on Haulbowline in Cork harbour, and her grandfather and uncle were both in the Naval Service.
She was one of the first two female cadets to be commissioned in 1997 - along with Dubliner Lieut Cdr Orlaith Gallagher. In 2002, Lieut Cdr O'Brien was appointed as navigator of the LE Niamhduring its 25,000 nautical-mile voyage to Asia.
Lieut Cdr O'Brien was also the first female instructor at the Naval Service cadet school, and served as second-in-command on the LE Emer.
"This is what every operations branch officer aspires to when they join the Naval Service as a young cadet," she said yesterday.
Lieut Cdr O'Brien takes over the vessel from Lieut Cdr Neil Manning today. The handover parade will be overseen by Capt James Robinson, second in command of the Naval Service. He said the development was "one more step forward for the Navy" and a "further indication that everyone who joins the service has equal opportunities, depending on their personal abilities, regardless of gender".