Does anyone here know anything about the Irish (Republic of Ireland) Merchant Marine?
Does it exist?
Who regulates it?
What (if any) Union represents its workers?
Here is the list of ships under Irish register per date:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fleet-europa/results_en
Seaman’s Union of Ireland:
The Seamen’s Union of Ireland (SUI) is a small, independent Irish trade union formed in 1959 from a merger of the Irish Seamen’s Union and a branch of the Marine, Port and General Workers’ Union. Based in North Strand, Dublin, it represented Irish merchant sailors, particularly engaging with state-owned Irish Shipping, and was a key player in maritime disputes during the 1960s.
- Relationship with Other Unions: While it was an independent body for many years, the larger SIPTU (Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union) also represented maritime workers, and in some contexts, the Irish Seamen and Port Workers’ Union merged into SIPTU.
Note: European Seaman’s Unions are nothing like the US unions:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/labor-union.asp
They DO NOT operate as “crewing agents”.
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The Irish Merchant Marine is small and fundamentally ignored by the Irish Government.
Our major ferry services to the UK and Europe are foreign flagged and foreign crewed.
Salaries have atrophied due to the employment of third world and Eastern European crews making it an unattractive career.
It is subject to regulation which is monitored and enforced by the Marine Survey Office( MSO).
The MSO was set-up in the years leading up to the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act which predates the modern Irish State.
The 1894 act was adopted by the Irish administration and is the crumbling foundation legislation guiding the Regulation of Merchant Shipping in Ireland.
The UK repealed the 1894 Act in 1970 and repealed the 1970 Act around 1995.
In Ireland new legislation is layered on the old legislation which has created a scrofulous legal landscape.
There are a number of significant merchant shipping companies operating in Ireland but they choose not to register under the Irish Flag because dealing with the MSO is inefficient.
Even domesticly operating vessels prefer to register outside of Ireland.
I was a master in the Irish Merchant Marine for 24 years and a nautical surveyor in the MSO for 16 years.
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