A Kerry county councillor says it's appropriate that a vessel named after Kerry's Antarctic explorer would be officially named in the county.
The Marine Institute has commissioned a new research vessel, which is to be named the RV Tom Crean, in honour of the explorer.
In 1893 at the age of 16, Tom Crean departed Minard in Lispole and joined the Royal Navy.
In the early 1900s, he was part of three British expeditions which had hoped to be the first to reach the South Pole.
He received an Albert Medal for his lifesaving efforts during the final expedition.
Last year, the Marine Institute commissioned a research vessel, which they intend to name the RV Tom Crean.
Fianna Fáil councillor Breándan Fitzgerald had previously asked the council to contact the institute and ask for the new vessel to sail past Minard and be officially named at the port in Dingle.
In response, the Marine Institute, which is based in Galway, said the vessel is currently under construction in Spain and, therefore, it cannot commit to events until the vessel is constructed and sea trials have been completed.
Councillor Fitzgerald told the council that the institute is an Irish body, not a Galway body, and he reiterated his request to have the vessel pass Minard and be named in West Kerry.
