This title tells the story of the partnership between the Irish Navy; Enterprise Ireland; Irish businesses and the Irish community in Asia. Celebrating the voyage of L.E. Niamh to China; Japan; Malaysia; Korea; Singapore and Hong Kong; the book presents personal accounts of the voyage from the crew and officers; as well as highlights from some of the business people taking part in the trade mission. Venturing further than any Irish naval vessel has ever been; L.E. Niamh became the first Irish naval vessel to travel east of the Suez Canal and is also the first to cross the equator; which the crew duly marked with relevant ceremony. L.E. Niamh travelled 23;000 miles in 100 days; visited 14 ports and hosted over 10;000 visitors. In this book; the captain; Gerard O'Flynn; the crew; and other organizations involved; tell the story of a diplomatic; business and logistical success story. Containing photographs; personal accounts and naval detail; the book offers an account of a historic goodwill and trade mission.
#4787369 in Books Timewell Press 2005-01-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.54 x 1.08 x 6.53l; 1.30 #File Name: 1857252055288 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A wonderful bookBy Boyd HoneIf you look up my other reviews; you'll see that I've written hundreds. While reading Richard Connaughton's OMAI for the second time; I discovered that I hadn't written a single word on his book suite à la première lecteur (I'm French); an incredible omission as the story of the Tahitian boy whom Cook packed off to England is a lesson as to the role that luck; chance and being in the right place at the right time - as well as the role of the gods in their unceasing manipulation of mere mortals - play in the lives of men. The lad was ill chosen because he possessed neither the intelligence nor the good looks of Tahitians at the time of Cook (around the American Revolution; 1776); and he was of common birth; meaning that he counted for little in Tahiti and would have counted for very little in England had he not been billed by some as a Tahitian prince; by others as the son of the priest; or even a priest himself. (Little has changed in the England of today; where those not in some contact with royalty are truly commoners; the stress being on common.) Nonetheless; what amazed me was the wonderful care that Cook took of the boy; along with the even greater care taken by Joseph Banks; a man of immense importance in the history - especially the natural history - of England. Connaughton's revelations concerning the sexuality of Tahitians (highly exciting to a young man such as I) leaves nothing (thank God) to the imagination. Omai; barely twenty; already had had three wives before leaving the island; and had made an unknown number of `'acquaintances'' in London during his stay there. Back home in Tahiti; Cook saw to it that the lad had his own home; built to the lad's specifications; as well as sheep; cows; horses; etc.; all of which were new to the island. But Omai was never loved by the islanders due to his lowly birth; his Negroid features (flat nose and coloration) and his habit of riding about on his horse; dressed in full armor; firing off the pistols his mentor Cook had provided him (as well as his propensity to continually fall off said horse). A beautiful; informative and truly sad book. My own books can be found on under Michael Hone.
