'A lot of our work goes under the radar': Revenue recruiting for new patrol vessel
City Make The Moored Vessel Ryan Headlines Of Lot The At The Do Andrew 'a Picture: Larry Customs Cork Cummins Cutter Revenue Won’t ' We Beside Rcc Suirbhéir Work Marina
Former sailors and fishermen are among those expected to apply for up to a “dozen-plus” Revenue maritime officer jobs with the work primarily involving patrol duties on board Customs cutters.
The Maritime Unit, based in Cork, currently operates two customs cutters. Last year a contract was signed for the delivery of a new cutter to replace the RCC Suirbheir, which has been in service since 2004.
The new vessel, which is due to come in to service in 2025, will be equipped with advanced navigational and surveillance systems. This will further enable officers to target smuggling of drugs and cigarettes and organised crime in the seas around Ireland.
Andrew Ryan, Revenue’s Maritime Operations Manager, says that candidates need to be physically fit and able to pass the Seafarers’ Medical. A full driving licence is also required. Recruitment gets underway next week.
Mr Ryan described the role, which involves a roster of eight days on and six days off, as “varied, dynamic and rewarding”.
“You could be doing patrol at sea. It could be joining the Joint Taskforce involved in a maritime operation which requires air surveillance.
"We deploy the teams wherever the need is. It is normally eight days on but if something breaks or there is a large operation we have to call back extra officers.
"A lot of our work goes under the radar and that’s because we do a lot of our work in the background.
"We do our intelligence gathering without disclosing what we are doing and how we are doing it. So a lot of the work we do won’t make the headlines.”
Mr Ryan says that the crew perform, in effect, as mariners and active participants in a wide range of enforcement activities including patrol, surveillance and anti-smuggling/evasion work.
He says that intensive training is carried out at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, and at the Regional Fisheries Centre in Castletownbere in Cork and Greencastle in Donegal.
“Some of those courses will involve sea survival and helicopter underwater escape training because we also conduct helicopter operations with our colleagues in the Air Corps for anti-smuggling.
Maritime officers work closely with the Gardaí and the Defence Forces, as well as international law enforcement partners.
Mr Ryan adds that successful candidates should be aware that they will be working in close proximity to their colleagues for multiple days at a time.
“Often a lot of our teams spend more time with their crews than they do with their families. The crews are required to work together in such a tight and confined space that they form very close bonds.”
The deadline for applications is November 15. Further information can be obtained from Revenue.