Irish politician mistakes British survey ship for the warship, gets arrested

Irish politician Diarmuid O’Cadhla was arrested today for trying to force his way onto a British naval ship that was parked in the Cork Harbour. But the ship in question – the HMS Enterprise – has nothing to do with war.

O’Cadhla seems to have been using the presence of the ship to stir up public sentiment, but it all backfired when he tried to board the ship itself without any approval. He was taken in because he attempted to do so without any “lawful authority or reasonable excuse”.

A video that he made complaining about the ship shoes sailors on board armed with guns actually waving at the camera with a smile. It’s possible they found the whole situation absurd. It’s also remarkable that he thought it was a good move to put their faces on the video to begin with.

In the video, he can be seen calling the ship a “British and NATO warship” which is not only inaccurate but also criminal because it could have led to incitement. He calls the soldiers on board “heavily armed”.

The ship in question, HMS Enterprise, is used to survey and map ocean depths. It has no functionality to be used in war at this point and instead has been used in multiple emergency and humanitarian missions over the years it has been active.

It is in Cork not for anything related to any wars, but for a routine port call. A similar visit has been made by an Irish ship too In April, where it headed to Glasgow. The arrival wasn’t an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence.

This is what people mean when they talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. In this case, one has to stop and wonder if it’s just political gain that O’Cadhla was after, and if he’s in a position to get more votes after being identified as a malicious liar.

You can watch the full video of the “exposé” here:

According to the Irish Examiner, the politician is on social welfare in the form of invalidity pension. He is getting free legal help for the case.