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Displaying items by tag: Portora

#ROWING: Portora’s men’s junior 18 quadruple scull was the fastest crew in the first head of the Lagan Head of the River on Saturday. The fastest single sculler on the day was a junior – Dylan Mitchell of Bann outpaced intermediate Sam McKeown of Portadown. Senior sculler Ruth Morris of Trinity was the fastest woman, while the Queen's novice eight was the fastest women's crew.

Lagan Head of the River, Belfast, Saturday (2,700m)

Head One:

Overall: 1 Portora men’s junior 18A quadruple sculls 10 min 10.3 sec, 2 Belfast BC mens’ senior double sculls 10:46.6, 3 Methodist A men’s junior 16 coxed quad 11:06.5, 4 Bann jun 18A coxed quad 11:06.5, 5 Commercial club one coxed four 11:07.6, 6 Portora jun 16 coxed four 11:20.0.

Men

Eight – Novice: Trinity 11:27.7.

Four – Club One, coxed: Commercial 11:07.6. Novice, coxed: RBAI 12:14.1. Jun 18A: Coleraine AI 11:24.1. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 11:10.8.

Pair – Sen: Belfast RC A 12:11.5. Jun 18: Methodist 12:05.9.

Sculling

Quadruple – Club One, coxed: RBAI 11:21.2. Jun 18A: Portora 10:10.3; Jun 18A, coxed: Bann 11:06.5. Jun 16, coxed: Methodist A 10:53.6

Double – Senior: Belfast BC 10:46.6. Club One: Methodist 11:18.7. Jun 18A: Bann 11:31.6. Jun 16: Methodist 12:05.2.

Single – Senior: Trinity (J Dover) 12:23.1. Inter: Portadown (S McKeown) 11:55.0. Club One: Trinity (J Norton) 12:03.1. Jun 18A: Bann (D Mitchell) 11:52.5.

Women

Eight – Novice: Queen’s A 12:24.6.

Four – Inter, coxed: Belfast RC 12:45.8. Club One, coxed: Trinity 12:35.6. Jun 18: Methodist 12:17.8. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 12:15.4.

Pair – Senior: Methodist 13:06.4. Jun 18A: Portora 12:49.2.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Belfast BC 13:57.2. Jun 18A: Bann 11:27.8. Jun 16, coxed: Portora 12:44.9.

Double – Club One: Queen’s 12:53.8. Jun 18A: Neptune 12:40.7.

Single – Senior: Trinity (R Morris) 12:27.4. Inter: Belfast BC (S Quinn) 13:11.4. Club One: Queen’s (R Maguire) 13:46.8. Jun 18A: Bann (E Barry) 13:39.9.

POSITION
CREW
NUMBER Club Class Cox/Steerer Time % of winning
time Comments
1 101 Portora MJ18A 4X- E. Gebler 10:10.3 100.00
2 105 Belfast BC MS 2X M. McKibbin 10:46.6 105.95
3 122 Methodist A MJ16 4X+ J. Thompson 10:53.6 107.11
4 121 Bann MJ18A 4X+ C. Bell 11:06.5 109.22
5 112 Commercial MC1 4+ R. Keogh 11:07.6 109.40
6 147 Portora MJ16 4+ M. Woodhouse 11:10.8 109.93
7 115 Methodist MC1 2X E. Magill 11:18.7 111.21
8 128 Bann MJ16 4X+ F. Lestas 11:20.0 111.43
9 124 Commercial MJ16 4X+ R. Keogh 11:20.7 111.55
10 111 RBAI MC1 4X+ R. Hulatt 11:21.2 111.62
11 109 CAI MJ18A 4- L. Beach 11:24.1 112.09
12 102 Methodist MJ18A 4X- E. Sweeny 11:24.9 112.23
13 131 DUBC MN 8+ D. O'Carroll 11:27.7 112.70
14 154 Bann WJ18A 4X- R. Meenagh 11:27.8 112.71
15 103 CAI MJ18A 4X- J. Gregg 11:29.7 113.01
16 120 Bann MJ18A 2X T. Davidson 11:31.6 113.33
17 142 Commercial MJ15 8+ T. Cahill 11:35.0 113.89
18 114 CAI MC1 2X O. Gage 11:39.2 114.57
19 110 Commercial MC1 4X+ R. Keogh 11:42.4 115.09
20 157 Neptune MJ15 4X+ J. Butler 11:51.2 116.54
21 141 Bann MJ18A 1X D. Mitchell 11:52.5 116.75
22 152 Portora WJ18A 4X- L. Mulligan 11:53.1 116.86
23 133 Portadown MI 1X S. McKeown 11:55.0 117.16
24 135 Portora MI 1X E. Murray 11:59.3 117.86
25 153 Methodist WJ18A 4X- L. Bell 12:00.4 118.04
26 163 DUBC MC1 1X J. Norton 12:03.1 118.48
27 113 DUBC MC1 2X R. Sugrue 12:03.1 118.49
28 137 Belfast BC MJ18A 1X A. Murray 12:04.0 118.64
29 145 Methodist MJ16 2X X. Young 12:05.2 118.83
30 108 Methodist MJ18A 2- M. Taylor 12:05.9 118.94
31 164 DUBC MC1 1X N. Rawlinson 12:06.1 118.97
32 106 Belfast RC A MS 2- I. Crawford 12:11.5 119.86
33 144 RBAI MN 4+ D. Simpson 12:14.1 120.28
34 107 Belfast RC B MS 2- T. McCaughtry 12:14.2 120.31
35 198 Portora WJ16 4+ S. Dolan 12:15.4 120.50
36 149 Methodist WJ18A 4- O. Andress 12:17.8 120.89
37 127 Neptune MJ16 4X+ M. Hartigan 12:19.7 121.21
38 155 Belfast RC WJ18A 4X- C. Coulter 12:22.7 121.70
39 116 DUBC MS 1X J. Dover 12:23.1 121.77
40 162 DUBC MC1 1X B. Maguire 12:23.4 121.81
41 150 Belfast BC MME 2- C. Hunter 12:23.9 121.89
42 208 QUBLBC A WN 8+ G. Canham 12:24.6 122.01
43 158 Methodist MJ15 4X+ J. Kelly 12:26.2 122.27
44 139 RBAI MJ18A 1X N. Reid 12:26.9 122.38
45 184 DULBC WS 1X R. Morris 12:27.4 122.48
46 168 DULBC WC1 4+ K. Paterson 12:35.6 123.82
47 129 Carlow MME 4+ P. Doyle 12:37.0 124.05
48 177 Methodist MJ15 8X A. Kashyap 12:37.4 124.11
49 170 Neptune WJ18A 2X C. Ferrick 12:40.7 124.65
50 212 Portora A WJ15 8+ J. Willis 12:40.8 124.67
51 182 Portora MME 1X G. Murphy 12:42.0 124.86
52 197 Portora WJ16 4X+ C. McClean 12:44.9 125.34
53 119 RBAI MJ18A 2X M. Gaston 12:45.1 125.37
54 151 Belfast RC WI 4+ B. Kelly 12:45.8 125.49
55 195 Carlow WMC 4X- K. Wall-Scully 12:48.2 125.88
56 171 Portora WJ18A 2- E. Glover 12:49.2 126.03
57 140 RBAI MJ18A 1X H. Heatherington 12:49.2 126.04
POSITION CREW
NUMBER
Club Class Cox/Steerer Time
% of winning
time
Comments
58 138 Belfast RC MJ18A 1X J. Jordan 12:50.3 126.22
59 132 Bann MI 1X C. Mitchell 12:51.6 126.43
60 156 Neptune WJ18A 4X- A. O'Mahoney 12:52.6 126.60
61 165 QUBLBC A WC1 4+ A. Murdock 12:53.0 126.66
62 185 DULBC WS 1X S. O'Brien 12:53.3 126.72
63 202 QUBLBC WC1 2X A. Green 12:53.8 126.79
64 193 Belfast BC MMG 2X D. Gray 12:56.5 127.24
65 160 Belfast RC MC1 1X A. Kernohan 12:57.5 127.40
66 183 C of Derry MME 1X G. D'Urso 12:59.9 127.79
67 148 CAI MJ16 4+ A. Scott 13:02.5 128.22
68 169 QUBLBC B WC1 4+ A. DeBaroid 13:03.6 128.40
69 179 Methodist WS 2- L. McIntyre 13:06.4 128.86
70 143 Portora MJ15 8+ D. Robinson 13:07.9 129.11
71 130 OCBC MMG 4+ M. Cusack 13:07.9 129.11
72 172 Bann WJ18A 2X A. O'Donovan 13:08.4 129.19
73 189 Belfast BC WI 1X S. Quinn 13:11.4 129.68
74 188 Methodist WI 1X C. Deyermond 13:11.7 129.72
75 134 Portadown MI 1X A. Laivins 13:13.2 129.97
76 178 Portora MJ14 4X+ L. Rafferty 13:13.3 129.99
77 125 Methodist B MJ16 4X+ J. Ramsey 13:21.7 131.37
78 203 Belfast BC WC1 1X O. Blundell 13:27.9 132.39
79 146 Commercial MJ16 2X R. Keogh 13:31.7 133.00
80 123 CAI MJ16 4X+ J. Grant 13:31.9 133.03
81 167 Belfast RC WC1 4+ S. Smith 13:39.0 134.20
82 173 Bann WJ18A 1X E. Barry 13:39.9 134.35
83 205 LVBC MME 2X D. O'Hara 13:40.6 134.47
84 204 QUBLBC WC1 1X R. Maguire 13:46.8 135.47
85 206 DULBC A WN 8+ M. Devlin 13:49.4 135.90
86 180 Lagan MMC 1X P. Cross 13:51.8 136.30
87 210 Belfast BC WN 4X+ J. Malloy 13:57.2 137.18
88 166 Belfast BC WC1 4+ R. Cullen 13:58.5 137.40
89 181 LVBC MME 1X PJ Keown 14:16.2 140.30
90 207 DULBC B WN 8+ R. Cusack 14:20.1 140.93
91 117 Neptune B MJ18A 2X P. Dunn 14:20.2 140.96
92 175 Belfast RC WJ18A 4X+ B. McCaughtry 14:20.4 140.98
93 211 QUBLBC WN 4X+ E. Armstrong 14:25.1 141.75
94 214 Carlow WJ14 4X+ M. Nolan 14:35.3 143.43
95 159 Commercial MJ15 4X+ S. Cooke 14:49.6 145.77
96 126 Portadown MJ16 4X+ P. Waterson 14:53.1 146.34
97 213 Portora B WJ15 8+ R. Ballintine 14:55.9 146.80
98 196 Portadown WJ16 4X+ W. Pinkerton 15:09.8 149.08
99 209 QUBLBC B WN 8+ C. McCausland 15:20.9 150.90
100 194 Belfast RC WMC 4+ D. Kelly 15:24.6 151.50
101 190 Methodist WI 1X J. Copeland 15:45.9 155.01
102 215 Portora WJ14 4X+ E. Mooney 15:48.7 155.45
103 199 Carlow WJ16 2X A. Doyle 15:53.1 156.17
104 200 Portadown WMC 1X S. Laivina 16:02.1 157.65
Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The men’s junior coxed four was the standout race of the morning session at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. It took a photo finish to confirm Cork Boat Club’s win over Presentation, with Portora also disputing the lead right to the last 50 metres.

Cork Boat Club also took the women’s junior single sculls title through Oisin Forde, who won a fine battle with Jasmine English of Belfast Boat Club. Forde is from Torrevieja in Spain and with her sister Dervla, who was third, will represent Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse next month.

The men’s senior pair final gave Mark O’Donovan and Niall Kenny of UCD a chance to show why they are in the frame to represent Ireland at the World Championships this year, while a former international Fiola Foley partnered a current one, Monika Dukarska to win the women’s intermediate doubles title.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Selected Results; Finals)

 

Men

 

Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 5:46.25, 2 NUIG 5:50.28, 3 UCD 5:56.96.

 

Four, coxed – Junior: 1 Cork BC 6:35.99, 2 Presentation 6:36.22, 3 Portora 6:38.08.

 

Pair – Senior: 1 UCD (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:46.05, 2 NUIG 6:49.95, 3 Commercial B 7:00.16.

 

Sculling

 

Single: Lee (D O’Sullivan) 7:31.80, 2 St Michael’s (P O’Connor) 7:36.24, 3 Belfast BC (A Murray) 7:39.44.

 

 

 

Women

 

Eight – Novice: 1 Queen’s 7:19.74, 2 Trinity 7:55.75.

 

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: 1 Killorglin (F Foley, M Dukarska) 7:17.17, 2 Commercial 7:20.83, 3 Skibbereen 7:39.99.

 

Single – Junior: 1 Cork BC (O Forde) 8:06.14, 2 Belfast BC (J English) 8:07.11, 3 Commercial B 7:00.16.

   

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Enniskillen club Portora bridged a gap back to 1980 when they won the junior men’s eights title at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork today. St Joseph’s of Galway, seeking their third successive junior eights crown, fought it out with Portora down the course, but the boys in black and gold kept their heads impressively to pull away at the end.

The Gráinne Mhaol four of Fionnán Tolan, Alan Martin, Cormac Folan and James Wall beat Old Collegians to win the senior fours. The first half of the race was a nip-and-tuck battle, but the Galway crew moved away at 1250 metres to win well.

UCD and NUIG fought it out right to the finish in the women’s intermediate eights, with the Dublin college just shading it. UCD also won the inaugural men’s club eight – by almost eight seconds.

Justin Ryan gave UCC a title when he won the lightweight single sculls from Tim Harnedy of Skibbereen. The west Cork club added to their title roll by winning the junior women’s four.

Clonmel won the women’s novice coxed quadruple sculls from NUIG.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Selected Results, Finals)

Men

Eight – Club: 1 UCD 6:03.79, 2 Skibbereen 6:11.41, 3 Trinity B 6:13.04. Junior: 1 Portora 6:06.24, 2 St Joseph’s 6:10.21, 3 Bann 6:17.78.

Four – Senior: 1 Gráinne Mhaol 6:10.15, 2 Old Collegians 6:14.81.

Four, coxed – Intermediate: 1 NUIG 6:26.37, 2 Carlow 6:29.33, 3 Neptune 6:36.71.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 6:49.52, 2 Clonmel 7:01.83, 3 Kenmare 7:17.56.

Double – Senior: 1 Skibbereen 6:30.22, 2 Three Castles 6:34.96, 3 UCC 6:45.32.

Single – Lightweight: 1 UCC (J Ryan) 7:26.61, 2 Skibbereen (T Harnedy) 7:31.73, 3 UCD (S Toland) 7:39.60.

Junior: 1 St Michael’s (D O’Malley) 7:17.53, 2 Shannon (C Carmody) 7:22.81, 3 Waterford (A Goff) 7:25.24.

Women

Eight – Intermediate: UCD 6:44.30, 2 NUIG 6:44.92, 3 Queen’s 6:55.60.

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG/Cork 6:57.92, 2 Trinity 7:09.18, 3 Skibbereen 7:16.93. Junior Four: 1 Skibbereen 7:18.45, 2 Muckross 7:29.03, 3 Shannon 7:31.07.

Four, coxed – Club: 1 NUIG A 7:25.50, 2 UCC 7:33.87, 3 Skibbereen 7:38.30.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 St Michael’s 7:49.72, 2 Trinity 7:53.27, 3 Shannon 7:53.29.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Clonmel 7:47.42, 2 NUIG 8:03.81, 3 Athlunkard 8:48.81.

Double – Junior: 1 Cork 7:26.87, 2 Belfast 7:32.25, 3 Commercial 7:36.33.

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Holly Nixon of Portora was in the number two seat of the composite crew which finished second in the final of the Princess Grace for women’s quadruple sculls at Henley Royal Regatta. The race was won Leander and Gloucester, a senior British women’s quadruple, with Gloucester and Northwich, an under-23 British composite crew, three and a quarter lengths behind them at the finish. Nixon wore her Portora colours, but under Henley rules only two club names are listed for composite crews.

Henley Royal Regatta

Princess Grace (Women’s Quadruple, Open): Leander and Gloucester bt Gloucester and Northwich 3¼l, 7 mins 31 secs.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Holly Nixon brought Portora a title at Henley Women’s Regatta today. The Enniskillen woman teamed up with Lucy Burgess, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Josephine Wratten to take the Borne Cup for elite quadruple sculls with a six-length win in the final over a French composite. In the junior coxed four, Portora had given way to Henley Rowing Club (the eventual winners) and in the junior 16 coxed four American crew St Paul’s had beaten them at the quarter-final stage.

Women’s Henley (Finals; Irish interest):

Elite Quadruple Sculls: Gloucester H/Northwich/Tees/Portora bt Grenoble/Caen, D’Avignon 6l.

Trunk and Arms Single Sculls: Tribesmen (K O’Brien) bt Cantabrigian (C Connon) 3l.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Portora won the Stephen Doran prize for best club at Athlone Regatta on Saturday. The Enniskillen club won a remarkable 11 finals, including clean sweeps of the men’s and women’s junior 18, junior 16 and junior 15 eights – with Bann of Coleraine coming in second in the junior 18 races. Portora also won the junior men’s coxed four and junior women’s coxless four.

The men’s senior single sculls winner was Turlough Hughes of UCD, with Damien Kelly of Garda second. Conor Carmody of Shannon won the junior 18 single sculls.

Kenmare celebrated their recent affiliation to Rowing Ireland by recording their first win – in the men’s noviced coxed quadruple sculls.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Commercial topped the rankings with 11 wins and seven second places at the Neptune Head of the River at Islandbridge today. A Commercial/Neptune senior eight won the final race of the day, beating English visitors Broxbourne by half a length in three minutes 46 seconds, the fastest time of the regatta. Colm Dowling, the number seven man in the crew, had earlier won the senior single sculls title. The regatta was held in cold, sunny conditions and had a particularly big entry from Northern Ireland clubs Bann and Portora.  

Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge (Selected Results)

Men, Eight – Senior: 1 Commercial/Neptune (W Yeomans, I Kelly, L Hawkes, AJ Rawlinson, F Groome, J Graham, C Dowling, M Maher; cox: G Connolly) bt Broxbourne ½ l 3:46. Intermediate: Broxbourne bt Portora 1l, 3:54. Novice: Belfast RC bt Bann 1l, 4:12. Junior 16: Portora A bt Bann 2 ¼l, 4:07. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial 3l, 3:59. Masters: Old Collegians/Three Castles bt Waterford BC 3l, 5:21.

Fours – Intermediate One, coxed: Portora bt Bann 1l, 4:24. Novice, coxed: Belfast bt Trinity 1¾ l, 4:52. Junior 18, coxed: Portora bt Neptune 1½ l, 4:25. Masters, coxed: Old Collegians bt Carlow 2l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: UCD bt Trinity 2 ½ l, 4:32. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial easily 4:16. Junior 16, coxed: Commercial bt Portora 2 ½ l, 4:29. Junior 15, coxed: Portora bt Bann 1ft, 4:41.

Double – Junior 16: Waterford bt Offaly easily. Junior 15: Commercial bt Athlone A easily, 5:04.

Single – Senior: Commercial (Dowling) bt Three Castles (Corcoran) easily, 4:59. Intermediate: Garda (Kelly) bt Three Castles (Corcoran) 2 ¾ l, 4:49. Novice: UCD (Toland) bt Sligo (Patterson). Junior 18: Commercial (W Yeomans) bt Athlone (Munnelly) disq. Junior 16: Athlone (Munnelly) bt Waterford (Goff) 2 ¾ l, 4:58.

Women

Eights – Intermediate: UCD bt Commercial 2ft, 4:22. Novice: Bann bt Belfast RC easily, 4:34. Junior 16: Portora A bt Portora B easily, 4:50.

Fours – Novice, coxed: Trinity A bt Belfast B 2¾ l, 5:04.  

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Commercial bt Neptune ¾ l, 5:21. Junior 18: Commercial bt Neptune easily, 4:54. Junior 16, coxed: Carlow bt Portora 5:04. Junior 15, coxed: Bann A bt Athlone 3½l, 5:11.

Double – Junior 16: Neptune B bt Neptune A. Junior 15: Bann bt Athlone 1l, 5:38

Single – Senior: Commercial (S Dolan) bt Commercial (E Lambe) easily, 5:32. Intermediate: Trinity (O’Brien) bt Commercial (Foley) easily, 5:27. Novice: Bann (Barry) bt Commercial (Foley) 3l, 5:25. Junior 18: Neptune (Kavanagh) bt Carlow (Byrne) ½ l, 5:36. Junior 16: Commercial (Lambe) bt New Ross (Nolan) 2ft.

Published in Rowing

The Rowing Ireland/Portora composite which won the elite quadruple sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for June. The crew of Eimear Moran, Lisa Dilleen, Holly Nixon and Sanita Puspure beat a British combination crew in the final by four lengths. Dilleen and Puspure had earlier won the elite double sculls.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2011. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2011 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

Two men’s senior eights from Queen's University slotted into the first two slots at the Erne Rowing Head of the River at Enniskillen. The junior 18 quadruple of the host club, Portora, had a fine result, finishing joint eighth overall.

Erne Head of the River, Enniskillen

Overall: 1 Queen’s A men’s senior eight 19 minutes 53 seconds, 2 Queen’s B men’s senior eight 20:21, 3 University of Limerick/St Michael’s men’s senior eight 20:40, 4 Trinity men’s intermediate eight 20:59, 5 Bann men’s junior 18 eight 21:09, 6 Methodist College, Belfast men’s junior 18 eight 21:47.

Men, Eight – Senior: 1 Queen’s A 19:53, 2 Queen’s B 20:21, 3 University of Limerick/St Michael’s 20:40. Intermediate: Trinity 20:59. Novice: 1 Trinity 21:47, 2 Queen’s 22:38, 3 Queen’s B 24:51. Junior 18: 1 Bann 21:09, 2 Methody 21:47, 3 St Joseph’s 22:02. Junior 16: St Joseph’s 23:50. Masters: Belfast BC (E) 24:06.

Four/Quadruple Sculls – Senior: 1 Belfast RC (quadruple) 23:01, 2 LSC (quad) 24:45. Intermediate: 1 Trinity (quad) 22:17, 2 Queen’s (coxed four) 23:39, 3 University of Limerick (quad) 23:59. Junior 18: 1 Portora (quadruple) 22:02,  2 Commercial (quad) 22:51, 3 Portora (coxed four) 22:56. Junior 16: Bann (quad, coxed) 24:05.

Women, Eight – Senior: 1 Trinity 23:42, 2 NUIG 23:51. Intermediate: 1 Queen’s 23:45, 2 Trinity 26:02, 3 Methody 26:16. Novice: 1 Queen’s 25:07, 2 Trinity A 26:29, 3 Trinity B 26:40. Junior 18: 1 St Michael’s 24:41, 2 Portora A 27:24. Masters: Belfast BC (D) 25:39

Four/Quadruple – Senior: 1 Portora (quadruple) 24:32, 2 Trinity (coxed four) 27:28, 3 Garda 28:11.

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Published in Rowing
Page 3 of 3

The Irish Coast Guard

The Irish Coast Guard is Ireland's fourth 'Blue Light' service (along with An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Service and the Fire Service). It provides a nationwide maritime emergency organisation as well as a variety of services to shipping and other government agencies.

The purpose of the Irish Coast Guard is to promote safety and security standards, and by doing so, prevent as far as possible, the loss of life at sea, and on inland waters, mountains and caves, and to provide effective emergency response services and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.

The Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for Ireland's system of marine communications, surveillance and emergency management in Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and certain inland waterways.

It is responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue and counter-pollution and ship casualty operations. It also has responsibility for vessel traffic monitoring.

Operations in respect of maritime security, illegal drug trafficking, illegal migration and fisheries enforcement are co-ordinated by other bodies within the Irish Government.

On average, each year, the Irish Coast Guard is expected to:

  • handle 3,000 marine emergencies
  • assist 4,500 people and save about 200 lives
  • task Coast Guard helicopters on missions

The Coast Guard has been around in some form in Ireland since 1908.

Coast Guard helicopters

The Irish Coast Guard has contracted five medium-lift Sikorsky Search and Rescue helicopters deployed at bases in Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo.

The helicopters are designated wheels up from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 minutes at night. One aircraft is fitted and its crew trained for under slung cargo operations up to 3000kgs and is available on short notice based at Waterford.

These aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains of Ireland (32 counties).

They can also be used for assistance in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and aerial surveillance during daylight hours, lifting and passenger operations and other operations as authorised by the Coast Guard within appropriate regulations.

Irish Coastguard FAQs

The Irish Coast Guard provides nationwide maritime emergency response, while also promoting safety and security standards. It aims to prevent the loss of life at sea, on inland waters, on mountains and in caves; and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.

The main role of the Irish Coast Guard is to rescue people from danger at sea or on land, to organise immediate medical transport and to assist boats and ships within the country's jurisdiction. It has three marine rescue centres in Dublin, Malin Head, Co Donegal, and Valentia Island, Co Kerry. The Dublin National Maritime Operations centre provides marine search and rescue responses and coordinates the response to marine casualty incidents with the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Yes, effectively, it is the fourth "blue light" service. The Marine Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) Valentia is the contact point for the coastal area between Ballycotton, Co Cork and Clifden, Co Galway. At the same time, the MRSC Malin Head covers the area between Clifden and Lough Foyle. Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) Dublin covers Carlingford Lough, Co Louth to Ballycotton, Co Cork. Each MRCC/MRSC also broadcasts maritime safety information on VHF and MF radio, including navigational and gale warnings, shipping forecasts, local inshore forecasts, strong wind warnings and small craft warnings.

The Irish Coast Guard handles about 3,000 marine emergencies annually, and assists 4,500 people - saving an estimated 200 lives, according to the Department of Transport. In 2016, Irish Coast Guard helicopters completed 1,000 missions in a single year for the first time.

Yes, Irish Coast Guard helicopters evacuate medical patients from offshore islands to hospital on average about 100 times a year. In September 2017, the Department of Health announced that search and rescue pilots who work 24-hour duties would not be expected to perform any inter-hospital patient transfers. The Air Corps flies the Emergency Aeromedical Service, established in 2012 and using an AW139 twin-engine helicopter. Known by its call sign "Air Corps 112", it airlifted its 3,000th patient in autumn 2020.

The Irish Coast Guard works closely with the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which is responsible for the Northern Irish coast.

The Irish Coast Guard is a State-funded service, with both paid management personnel and volunteers, and is under the auspices of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. It is allocated approximately 74 million euro annually in funding, some 85 per cent of which pays for a helicopter contract that costs 60 million euro annually. The overall funding figure is "variable", an Oireachtas committee was told in 2019. Other significant expenditure items include volunteer training exercises, equipment, maintenance, renewal, and information technology.

The Irish Coast Guard has four search and rescue helicopter bases at Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo, run on a contract worth 50 million euro annually with an additional 10 million euro in costs by CHC Ireland. It provides five medium-lift Sikorsky S-92 helicopters and trained crew. The 44 Irish Coast Guard coastal units with 1,000 volunteers are classed as onshore search units, with 23 of the 44 units having rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and 17 units having cliff rescue capability. The Irish Coast Guard has 60 buildings in total around the coast, and units have search vehicles fitted with blue lights, all-terrain vehicles or quads, first aid equipment, generators and area lighting, search equipment, marine radios, pyrotechnics and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Community Rescue Boats Ireland also provide lifeboats and crews to assist in search and rescue. The Irish Coast Guard works closely with the Garda Siochána, National Ambulance Service, Naval Service and Air Corps, Civil Defence, while fishing vessels, ships and other craft at sea offer assistance in search operations.

The helicopters are designated as airborne from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours, and 45 minutes at night. The aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, on inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains and cover the 32 counties. They can also assist in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and can transport offshore firefighters and ambulance teams. The Irish Coast Guard volunteers units are expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time of departing from the station house in ten minutes from notification during daylight and 20 minutes at night. They are also expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time to the scene of the incident in less than 60 minutes from notification by day and 75 minutes at night, subject to geographical limitations.

Units are managed by an officer-in-charge (three stripes on the uniform) and a deputy officer in charge (two stripes). Each team is trained in search skills, first aid, setting up helicopter landing sites and a range of maritime skills, while certain units are also trained in cliff rescue.

Volunteers receive an allowance for time spent on exercises and call-outs. What is the difference between the Irish Coast Guard and the RNLI? The RNLI is a registered charity which has been saving lives at sea since 1824, and runs a 24/7 volunteer lifeboat service around the British and Irish coasts. It is a declared asset of the British Maritime and Coast Guard Agency and the Irish Coast Guard. Community Rescue Boats Ireland is a community rescue network of volunteers under the auspices of Water Safety Ireland.

No, it does not charge for rescue and nor do the RNLI or Community Rescue Boats Ireland.

The marine rescue centres maintain 19 VHF voice and DSC radio sites around the Irish coastline and a digital paging system. There are two VHF repeater test sites, four MF radio sites and two NAVTEX transmitter sites. Does Ireland have a national search and rescue plan? The first national search and rescue plan was published in July, 2019. It establishes the national framework for the overall development, deployment and improvement of search and rescue services within the Irish Search and Rescue Region and to meet domestic and international commitments. The purpose of the national search and rescue plan is to promote a planned and nationally coordinated search and rescue response to persons in distress at sea, in the air or on land.

Yes, the Irish Coast Guard is responsible for responding to spills of oil and other hazardous substances with the Irish pollution responsibility zone, along with providing an effective response to marine casualties and monitoring or intervening in marine salvage operations. It provides and maintains a 24-hour marine pollution notification at the three marine rescue centres. It coordinates exercises and tests of national and local pollution response plans.

The first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die on duty was Caitriona Lucas, a highly trained member of the Doolin Coast Guard unit, while assisting in a search for a missing man by the Kilkee unit in September 2016. Six months later, four Irish Coast Guard helicopter crew – Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith -died when their Sikorsky S-92 struck Blackrock island off the Mayo coast on March 14, 2017. The Dublin-based Rescue 116 crew were providing "top cover" or communications for a medical emergency off the west coast and had been approaching Blacksod to refuel. Up until the five fatalities, the Irish Coast Guard recorded that more than a million "man hours" had been spent on more than 30,000 rescue missions since 1991.

Several investigations were initiated into each incident. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board was critical of the Irish Coast Guard in its final report into the death of Caitriona Lucas, while a separate Health and Safety Authority investigation has been completed, but not published. The Air Accident Investigation Unit final report into the Rescue 116 helicopter crash has not yet been published.

The Irish Coast Guard in its present form dates back to 1991, when the Irish Marine Emergency Service was formed after a campaign initiated by Dr Joan McGinley to improve air/sea rescue services on the west Irish coast. Before Irish independence, the British Admiralty was responsible for a Coast Guard (formerly the Water Guard or Preventative Boat Service) dating back to 1809. The West Coast Search and Rescue Action Committee was initiated with a public meeting in Killybegs, Co Donegal, in 1988 and the group was so effective that a Government report was commissioned, which recommended setting up a new division of the Department of the Marine to run the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC), then based at Shannon, along with the existing coast radio service, and coast and cliff rescue. A medium-range helicopter base was established at Shannon within two years. Initially, the base was served by the Air Corps.

The first director of what was then IMES was Capt Liam Kirwan, who had spent 20 years at sea and latterly worked with the Marine Survey Office. Capt Kirwan transformed a poorly funded voluntary coast and cliff rescue service into a trained network of cliff and sea rescue units – largely voluntary, but with paid management. The MRCC was relocated from Shannon to an IMES headquarters at the then Department of the Marine (now Department of Transport) in Leeson Lane, Dublin. The coast radio stations at Valentia, Co Kerry, and Malin Head, Co Donegal, became marine rescue-sub-centres.

The current director is Chris Reynolds, who has been in place since August 2007 and was formerly with the Naval Service. He has been seconded to the head of mission with the EUCAP Somalia - which has a mandate to enhance Somalia's maritime civilian law enforcement capacity – since January 2019.

  • Achill, Co. Mayo
  • Ardmore, Co. Waterford
  • Arklow, Co. Wicklow
  • Ballybunion, Co. Kerry
  • Ballycotton, Co. Cork
  • Ballyglass, Co. Mayo
  • Bonmahon, Co. Waterford
  • Bunbeg, Co. Donegal
  • Carnsore, Co. Wexford
  • Castlefreake, Co. Cork
  • Castletownbere, Co. Cork
  • Cleggan, Co. Galway
  • Clogherhead, Co. Louth
  • Costelloe Bay, Co. Galway
  • Courtown, Co. Wexford
  • Crosshaven, Co. Cork
  • Curracloe, Co. Wexford
  • Dingle, Co. Kerry
  • Doolin, Co. Clare
  • Drogheda, Co. Louth
  • Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
  • Dunmore East, Co. Waterford
  • Fethard, Co. Wexford
  • Glandore, Co. Cork
  • Glenderry, Co. Kerry
  • Goleen, Co. Cork
  • Greencastle, Co. Donegal
  • Greenore, Co. Louth
  • Greystones, Co. Wicklow
  • Guileen, Co. Cork
  • Howth, Co. Dublin
  • Kilkee, Co. Clare
  • Killala, Co. Mayo
  • Killybegs, Co. Donegal
  • Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford
  • Knightstown, Co. Kerry
  • Mulroy, Co. Donegal
  • North Aran, Co. Galway
  • Old Head Of Kinsale, Co. Cork
  • Oysterhaven, Co. Cork
  • Rosslare, Co. Wexford
  • Seven Heads, Co. Cork
  • Skerries, Co. Dublin Summercove, Co. Cork
  • Toe Head, Co. Cork
  • Tory Island, Co. Donegal
  • Tramore, Co. Waterford
  • Waterville, Co. Kerry
  • Westport, Co. Mayo
  • Wicklow
  • Youghal, Co. Cork

Sources: Department of Transport © Afloat 2020