NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish in US Politics Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > News > Irish Navy renews claims to Atlantic island of Rockall in flag showing ceremony

Irish Navy renews claims to Atlantic island of Rockall in flag showing ceremony

Oil deposits are at center of claims to tiny outpost off Donegal

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, October 14, 2012, 8:58 AM

Updated Sunday, October 14, 2012, 8:58 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

25 Comments

Ireland has made another claim on the Island of Rockall – claimed by Britain, Denmark and Iceland.

Ireland has made another claim on the Island of Rockall – claimed by Britain, Denmark and Iceland.

The Atlantic Ocean rock is located 230 nautical miles to the northwest of Bloody Foreland in County Donegal.

It has long been claimed by the Irish with the government sending in the Irish Navy to restate its claims.

Naval vessel the LE Roisin exercised Ireland’s sovereign rights over the craggy outcrop in a ‘showing the flag’ patrol according to the Irish Independent.

The paper reports that ownership of the tiny island, which rises 70ft out of the ocean and is a mere 83ft across, is hotly contested given its location.

Rockall sits on what is believed to be vast oil and gas fields worth billions of euro.

The Defence Forces confirmed to the paper that the Irish Naval Service routinely conducts maritime security patrols to exercise Ireland’s sovereign rights.

The report says that in 1955, Britain announced it had landed a party on Rockall and taken possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth.

A flagpole was erected, the Union Jack hoisted and a commemorative plaque bolted to the granite.

Nster.com

E-mail

25 Comments

See all comments

seamus60 | Oct 20, 2012, 01:23 PM EDT

Aloismartin. They`ll never get Adams to live on it with those bishops. No trees to hug.

Report abuse

pilib04 | Oct 18, 2012, 01:20 PM EDT

The Wolfe Tones may want to re-release Brian Warfield's "Rock on, Rockall."

Report abuse

jacersagain | Oct 16, 2012, 04:52 PM EDT

Good one cas...! *chuckling*

Report abuse

casualMBA | Oct 15, 2012, 11:10 PM EDT

Would this be the "North-Northwest Celtic Sea" then, since the British cartographers have designated the oil-gas rich southern waters off Ireland the "North Celtic Sea" field???

Report abuse

seanomelb | Oct 15, 2012, 06:39 PM EDT

Roes tinted glasses ToryTory!! You should try to see the world with a clear mind. What UK!! watch this space in 2014 and weep.

Report abuse

jacersagain | Oct 15, 2012, 04:06 PM EDT

I would have thought that Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) would have sorted out the question of Rockall's proximity to whatever claiming country by now. Why waste Irish taxpayers’ money sending an Irish Navy ship all the way out there if GPS can pin-point Rockall’s closest neighbour?

Report abuse

curtisjohnson | Oct 15, 2012, 04:00 PM EDT

The only thing that has materially set it back is the economic downturn. The phony british identity is still unwinding, however.

Report abuse

ToryTory | Oct 15, 2012, 07:24 AM EDT

Breakup of the UK & Irish unification? You're living in cuckoo land.

Report abuse

IrelandNorth | Oct 15, 2012, 07:20 AM EDT

A interesting documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 1 on The Story of the British Race, recognise the Welsh as the original Bretons/Britons/British, and how there was no love lost between them and the invading medieval Angles/English from the low countries - Netherlands and Belgium. But when it comes to nationality v[ersu]s socioeconomic class, the latter trumps the former every time. Hence why an indigenous Irish petit bourgeoisie relate more readily to their Euopean counterparts and their multicultural/cheap labour agenda than to their own great unwashed sweaty lumpenproletariat. There's a far greater gulf between Dublin's 04 and 24 than there is between the Hibernia and old Anglo-Saxonia. As for Rockall, time to settle some Anchorite monks there and claim it for Constantinople.

Report abuse

ForTheRepublic! | Oct 15, 2012, 06:20 AM EDT

Kinda sad how Brits feel the need to come here and have their say! Unionists are so arrogant they believe the English and their illegitimate German monarchy have a God given right to rule. Yes it is possible the majority of people living in Scotland won't vote for independence in 2014 but nationalism is growing stronger and I think it is only a matter of time before we see the breakup of the UK and the re unification of Ireland. The English need to get over their imperialism and realise they cannot rule the world by spilling blood in this day and age!

Report abuse

ToryTory | Oct 15, 2012, 05:34 AM EDT

Good one Sean, when all the evidence suggests the Scots will reject separation emphatically, what are the polls saying now? 28% in favour of separation? 52% in favour of union? The rest undecided? Anyway, this rock is insignificant barring any resources that may be located on the rock bed. The Irish claim is weak; the British claim is the strongest, if anyone is going to get rights to it, it'll be the UK.

Report abuse

Seanmor | Oct 14, 2012, 10:58 PM EDT

There one great irony here. Several times in recent years the government of the Irish state have used taxpayer's money to encourage it's electorate to surrender more and more of its sovereignty to the E.U. in referenda. If the Dáil crowd should legitimize their claim to Rockall, will they then turn it over to Brussels.

Report abuse

curtisjohnson | Oct 14, 2012, 08:40 PM EDT

Thankfully, a growing body of Scottish, Welsh and even English (and Cornish) no longer adhere to the phony and contrived "british" identity.

Report abuse

seanomelb | Oct 14, 2012, 07:51 PM EDT

Spoken like a true Brit I never said the Scots were not Brits! I stated come 2014........etc! BTW They are paying for it now and BOS became part of the HBOS group and now part of Lloyds a private bank and no longer a Scottish problem.

Report abuse

DanOLoingsigh | Oct 14, 2012, 07:10 PM EDT

Seano - The 'Brits' are the Scots, English and Welsh...Oil and Gas is found in most of the North Sea...if Scotland opts for independence they will need to take on the debts generated by the failures of Bank of Scotland and RBS...so their nascent economy will be constrained - How it will turn out is far from settled!!

Report abuse