Sad Stories from the Mediterranean

Lt. Commander Neil Manning - Captain of the L.E. James Joyce - and a parent in the school- visited the school prior to the mid-term break to speak to the pupils about his work and experiences working on that ship in the Mediterranean and trying to save refugees from Africa.

Neil and his crew spent the Summer of 2016 on the L.E. James Joyce about 30 miles out from the coast of Africa ( Libya) trying to help those fleeing from Libya and trying to reach Europe ( Italy). They were part of a humanitarian mission authorised by the U.N. as part of the Irish Governments contribution to help the refugees.

He spoke of the flimsy and broken boats that put to see while overcrowded - men, women and children on board. He also informed the pupils that these people had paid smugglers a lot of money to get a place on these boats.

When informed of a boat in distress, they had to go to their aid. He told the pupils that their first job was to keep all people on board calm and to throw them life-jackets.

His talk greatly impressed the pupils - especially in conjunctiuon with the photographs and video-clips which he showed. Neil also answered many questions for the pupils before he left us.