In June 2018, I was delighted to be able to welcome Mr Brian Hartigan and his wife Rosie on a visit to the Naval Base, Haulbowline, and gave them the deluxe tour of both the historic island and my ship at the time, LÉ Samuel Beckett, as we prepared for departure to the Mediterranean and Operation Sophia.
Brian was exceptionally kind in publishing an article of mine in CONTACT magazine. He is both the owner and editor of CONTACT, which is Australia’s military news website and monthly magazine.
In Brian’s own words, I “asked [him] if I’d be interested in a story for CONTACT – a current-day report on international efforts to rebuild Somalia. I agreed to publish the story if he’d allow me to edit it a little to reflect CONTACT’s and Australia’s interest in that country – and the story was published in issue 56, last December.”
The article ‘Rebuilding Somalia: The Sea is Their Future’ was the winning article for the An Cosantóir General MJ Costello Award for 2017, and it was also nominated for the European Military Press Association awards for that year. The success of the article was due in no small part to Brian’s kindness in publishing it.
The full edition of Issue 56 of CONTACT, which contains the award-winning Somalia article, can be found here.
The full edition of Issue 58 of CONTACT, containing the story of Brian and Rosie’s visit, can be found here.
Brian and Rosie also brought the most unexpected gift with them, which they presented to me over tea and biscuits in our home in Cobh. It is without a doubt one of my most cherished writing possessions.
A limited edition of the CONTACT yearbook, which had been specially modified to include my article.
A great kindness that I will most likely never be able to repay, and one for which I shall be forever grateful.
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