Published on 

A look at the Irish Coast Guard

Last year 3,500 people, who were in difficulty at sea or on our coasts, were assisted by volunteers from the Irish Coast Guard. According to recent figures, the Coast Guard responded to 1,839 separate incidents around our coasts in 2010.

New investment in the service has seen the opening of an ultra modern National Coast Guard Centre, located in the Department of Transport in Dublin. The centre coordinates the work of 950 volunteers at 54 locations around the country.

The men and women, who give of their time, respond to calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

MerrionStreet.ie spent a day with the Coast Guard unit in Howth, Co. Dublin, as they trained on the water and the cliffs.

24 volunteers make up the unit, ranging from more experienced members such as Officer in Charge Colin Murray to new volunteers like Keith Morrissey and Kate Cooper. Cliff rescue forms a large part of the work the unit in Howth does, with a regular search of the coves around the coast and regular training of new volunteers keeping the unit busy. In the feature below, the volunteers speak to MerrionStreet.ie about their experiences, their reasons for joining and the challenges and rewards of being part of the Irish Coast Guard.

 

The recent opening of the new National Coast Guard Centre in the Department of Transport saw an upgrade of the tools available to the Irish Coast Guard for Search & Rescue. From this centre, three officers are on call 24 hours a day dealing with incidents, contacting the appropriate Coast Guard unit if necessary, and locating missing ships.

Thanks to the upgraded centre, ships fitted with AIS – an Automic Identification System – can be located and kept track of through an interactive map. According to Declan Geoghegan, officers who work in the National Coast Guard Centre, see a real difference in effectiveness with the new technology and systems.

MerrionStreet.ie took a look at the other side of the Coast Guard, in order to learn how the Department interacts with the volunteers, and how the new Centre has been operating since it was opened officially in November 2010.