Commissioners of Irish Lights

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Commissioners of Irish Lights
Type Statutory Corporation
Founded 1867
Headquarters Dun Laoghaire, Ireland
Key people Frank Boland, Chairperson
Stuart Ruttle, Chief Executive
Industry Maritime Safety
Website www.cil.ie

The Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) is the body that serves as the lighthouse authority for all of the island of Ireland plus its adjacent seas and islands. As the Irish Lighthouse Authority it overseas the coastal lights and navigation marks provided by the local lighthouse authorities; the County Councils and Port Authorities.

It is funded by ships that use these seas on a pooled basis with those dues raised by the United Kingdom. This recognises that a large volume of shipping — typically transatlantic — relies on its lights but never puts in to a port in the Republic of Ireland.

Contents

[edit] History

The CIL was established under an Act of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1786 and entitled An Act for Promoting the Trade of Dublin, by rendering its Port and Harbour more commodious (26 Geo. III, c. xix). That Act, as adapted by the Irish Lights Commissioners (Adaptation) Order, 1935 remains the legislative basis for the CIL.

The CIL has recently moved its headquarters from Dublin to a purpose-built new building in Harbour Road, Dun Laoghaire.

[edit] Finance

The services provided by the Commissioners are financed from the General Lighthouse Fund. The income of the General Lighthouse Fund is mainly derived from light dues charged on commercial shipping at ports in Ireland and the United Kingdom, (i.e. user pays) supplemented by an annual contribution from the Irish Government towards the cost of the service provided in the Republic of Ireland.

The General Lighthouse Fund is administered by the UK Department for Transport. The General Lighthouse Fund also finances:

  1. Trinity House Lighthouse Service – the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and the Channel Islands;
  2. Northern Lighthouse Board – the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The accounts of the Commissioners of Irish Lights are consolidated with those of Trinity House Lighthouse Service and the Northern Lighthouse Board to form part of the General Lighthouse Fund annual accounts which are published in London by HMSO.

[edit] Ships

[edit] Granuaile III

The Commissioners currently have only one light tender[1] in service named ILV Granuaile. She was built at Galatz Shipyard, Romania in 2000 and is registered in Dublin. She has a gross tonnage (GT) of 2625 tons, has a length overall of 79.6 m and a beam of 15.99 m. She is the third vessel named Granuaile to have served the Commissioners. Granuaile II was in service between 1970 and 2000, and she was preceded by the first Granuaile from 1948 to 1970. Because of the automation of lighthouses, and the extensive use of helicopters by the Commissioners, CIL now need only one tender in service. The ship has diesel electric propulsion and is extremely maneuverable, therefore she is ideal for her role in maintaining the automatic navigation buoys in Irish waters. In 2003 she was involved in the recovery of the ill-fated fishing boat "Pisces", which sank off Fethard Co Wexford in July 2002.

[edit] Other vessels

  • Gray Seal (1988 - 1994)
  • Granuaile II (1970 - 2000)
  • Atlanta (1959 - 1988)
  • Ierne II (1955 - 1971)
  • Isolda (1953 - 1976)
  • Blaskbeg (1953 - 1955)
  • Granuaile (1948 - 1970)
  • Valonia (1947 – 1962)
  • Discovery II (1947 – 1948)
  • Nabro (1926 - 1949)
  • Deirdre (1919 - 1927)
  • Isolda (1928 – 1940) (Sunk off the Saltee Islands Co Wexford by German aircraft)
  • Alexandra (1904 - 1955)
  • Ierne (1898 - 1954)
  • Tearaght (1892 - 1928)
  • Moya (1893 - 1905)
  • Princess Alexandra (1863 - 1904)

[edit] Flags

Commissioners of Irish Lights is a cross-border body, its headquarters are in Dublin. The current flag of the Commissioners of Irish Lights features the St. Patrick's Cross, not the St. George's Cross as on the old flag[2]. CIL vessels in Northern Ireland fly the Blue Ensign defaced with the Commissioner's badge and those in the Republic fly the Irish tricolour[3]

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] Buoys

[edit] Lighthouses

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ships in the Irish Lighthouse Service (HTML). Commissioners of Irish Lights. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  2. ^ A picture of the CIL flag, from the World Flag database
  3. ^ britishflags.net- The Commissioners of Irish Lights

[edit] External links