Madam, – According to Fine Gael's defence spokesman Jimmy Deenihan, "the Asgard II has served generations of Irish sailors well" ( The Irish Times, February 24th).
For a vessel that has been in existence for a mere 28 years, I think Mr Deenihan’s notion of a generation (most historians use 30 years as a rule of thumb) holds precious little water. – Yours, etc,