THE commanding officer of the US aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, has said there will be "no nuclear weapons" on board the ship when it visits Dublin Port next month.
Capt Gerald Hoewing told The Irish Times that the visit was "not a military mission" and the US Navy was "not trying to have any impact on Irish neutrality".
Speaking on board the vessel in Mayport Naval Base, Plorida, Capt Hoewing said: "I can confirm there will be no nuclear weapons on board."
The carrier will be armed, however, as part of the US Navy's Atlantic squadron. It is a Gulf War veteran - it co ordinated the air attack on Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 - and its air wing recorded 114 strikes and 2,895 sorties, firing more than 3.5 million pounds of ordnance on Iraqi towns and cities, with many civilian casualties.
The carrier, with cover 5,000 crew on board, will drop anchor some 1.5 miles off Dun Laoghaire harbour on July 2nd, leaving for Portsmouth on July 7th.
As the largest warship on record to visit Dublin Port, it presents a considerable logistical challenge. One of the biggest problems facing the ship's agents, Dublin Maritime, is the transport of a fourtonne ambulance from the carrier to shore.
The ambulance is a present to Wicklow County Council from the Florida county of Seminole, which hosted a visit recently by members of the local authority.
The visit, at the behest of the US Ambassador to Ireland, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, is also intended to honour the 50th anniversary of the Naval Service in Ireland.
The first fleet review in the State's history is due to take placed in Haulbowline, Cork harbour, but almost a week after the USS John F Kennedy leaves. The "father" of the US Navy, Commodore John Barry, from Wexford, is due to be honoured next weekend in a fly past from the carrier as it rounds the south east coast.
