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Senator Gerard Craughwell has sought an explanation as to why not one of the 38 Government Ministers, including Ministers of State, attended the commissioning of the Naval Service’s 64th cadet class, leaving newly commissioned officers saluting a senior civil servant instead of a member of the Government.
He said the move was a break with long‑standing Defence Forces tradition – and said amongst those who might have been expected to attend were Minister for Defence Helen McEntee, or Thomas Byrne, Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs and Defence, or Neale Richmond, Minister of State with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora,
The ceremony, held on 25 June, is one of the most significant events in the Defence Forces calendar. It marks the moment when cadets formally become officers of the State.
Senator Craughwell said the absence of any of the 38 Ministers was “a despicable snub” to the cadets and their families, and a stark signal of how little priority the Government places on the Defence Forces.
In a move that has caused deep unease among serving personnel, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence presided over the ceremony and took the salute.
Craughwell said this forced newly commissioned officers to render military honours to a civil servant, something he described as “wholly inappropriate” and “symbolically wrong.”
He warned that such a departure from established protocol undermines the distinction between civilian oversight and military command, a distinction he said that “must never be blurred.”
Craughwell told the Seanad that ceremonial standards matter because “erosion of standards, whether ceremonial or substantive, rarely stops where it begins.”
He emphasised that the cadets themselves were blameless, praising their achievement as “significant, admirable and vital” to the future of the Naval Service.
He has called for a Minister to come before the Seanad to explain why no member of Government was available to attend, saying the newly commissioned officers deserved recognition from the highest levels of the State.
Several Senators echoed his concerns, saying the Government’s absence sent “totally the wrong message” and diminished the importance of the Defence Forces commissioning tradition.
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