Displaying items by tag: Coastguard
Tributes to Howth Coast Guard Founding Member Toni (Patricia) Ryan
Tributes have been paid to Toni (Patricia) Ryan, an experienced scuba diver and founding member of the Howth Harbour Coast Guard unit who has died at the age of 71.
Ryan participated in hundreds of Coast Guard call-outs in the north Dublin Bay area, training in cliff climbing and applying her scuba diving experience to coastal rescues.
As Coast Guard colleague Louis O’Moore said at her funeral, she was a “pivotal figure in the history of the Irish Coast Guard in north Dublin” from the time she joined the Howth unit in 1999, and she played a key role in the unit’s administration.
“Beyond the daily tasks and responsibilities, she was a touchstone for many of us,” O’Moore said, describing how she was regarded as the “mammy of the unit”, providing support, wisdom, encouragement and chat and counsel for those who needed it.
Howth Coast Guard officer in charge Colin Murray, who has also paid tribute to her key role, recalls that she took her camper van out to cliff locations during long searches where it became a hub for cups of tea and sustenance.
Dalkey Scuba divers members Mary Patterson and Aisling O’Connor have clear memories of her active involvement in their club, and how her relaxed approach to life made her a “natural diver” and ideal diving buddy.
“Toni took to diving like a duck to water,” Patterson said.
“She was a very active member of the club, taking part in the weekly dives around Dalkey island and the Muglins, and coming away on club weekends west, to places like Killary fjord and Kilkee,”she said.
“She was truly a "bubbly character", genuinely upbeat and always smiling. Looking back on it now, she obviously had great support from family and friends...Scuba diving is not an inclusive child-friendly pastime,” she noted.
“She left Dalkey to continue diving nearer to home with Aer Lingus Divers, and, around the same time got herself a campervan,” Patterson said.
“ I would bump into her every couple of years, in Howth, where she was a member of the Coastguard and in various places along the west coast in the campervan, where she would be diving, snorkelling or just hanging out and enjoying herself with her dive club friends,” she said.
“The Coastguard photo of her really captures the essence of Toni: practical, willing to get dug in and ............that smile,”Patterson said.
Dalkey Scuba Divers member Aisling O’Connor said that she had many memorable dives with Ryan on weekends away on the west coast.
“She had a small campervan, and so loved the club weekends,” O’Connor said.
“She was so easygoing, above and below the surface, soaking up nature, which she was passionate about,” O’Connor said.
Among her many rescues with Howth Coast Guard was that of a father and two sons, aged ten and two years respectively, who capsized from their kayak in Baldoyle estuary in windy conditions on the May bank holiday weekend of 2007.
Ryan, first coxswain Declan McQuillan and second coxswain Keith Plummer were out training on the Howth Coast Guard rigid inflatable boat (RIB). Due to several sandbanks in the area, the unit had a window of just 20 minutes before bringing all three casualties safely ashore.
Ryan already had many responsibilities when she volunteered for rescue. Her husband, Brendan was killed in a car crash at the age of 32, when her son Ian was six, her daughter Emma was four, and her youngest child, Shane, was just five months old.
The couple, who were childhood sweethearts growing up in Phibsborough, were both motorbike enthusiasts. Her husband ran a motorbike shop in Bray, Co Wicklow for a time, while she commuted to her job in the Bank of Ireland in Cabinteely on a Yamaha twin motorbike.
They moved to Bayside, Sutton, and acquired the camper van to take the young family to road races all over the country.
After she found some of her husband’s diving gear at home shortly after his death, Ryan took up diving with Dalkey Scuba Divers and played tennis with Sutton Lawn and Trackside Tennis clubs, becoming the first ladies singles champion at Trackside that same year.
She travelled to all over the world on scuba diving trips, latterly with Aer Lingus Diving Club. As her son Ian recalled at her funeral, her favourite Irish spot was Inishbofin, Co Galway, due to the welcoming atmosphere at Day’s Hotel.
She bought a second camper van in the 1990s, taking her children angling, and there was nothing she couldn’t fix, according to her daughter Emma, who says her mother once told her she would have loved to study engineering.
Around 2001, she took her own mother, then in her early eighties, and her daughter Emma in a hired camper down the west coast of North America.
Later in life, she studied at the National College of Ireland and took a job in her fifties as clerical officer in the Courts Service, working in the fines office. She volunteered for St Michael’s House service for people with disabilities for many years, and was a volunteer for swimming events at the Special Olympics in Ireland in 2003. Her family said this meant so much to her as her younger brother, Paul, had Down Syndrome.
She retired in 2017, and her youngest son, Shane, died that year. Once again, in spite of her grief, she was determined to live her best life. She was extremely close to her eight grandchildren, and encouraged her daughter Emma and her own three children to become involved in watersports through Howth Sea Scouts.
Ryan began spending more time in Ballyheigue, Co Kerry, where she took up golf, swam almost every day in the Atlantic, and went to cookery classes and became very involved in the community in the west Kerry village.
She had a strong faith, and at her funeral, where Margaret Brennan sang, she was blessed with seawater taken from the Irish Sea at Rush by Fr Kit Sheridan of Bayside.
Howth Coast Guard unit members were her pallbearers at the family’s request. Murray, her former officer-in-charge, has paid tribute to “all of the enthusiasm and experience she brought to the unit” and has described her as “irreplaceable”.
The Department of Transport has announced the signing of a new contract with Bristow Ireland Limited for the next Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) Service and Rescue Aviation Service.
The new contract will run for ten years and will provide a range of essential state services, including Maritime and Inland Search and Rescue, Environmental Monitoring, Helicopter Emergency Medical and Air Ambulance Services.
Under the new contract, Bristow Ireland Limited will operate six helicopters from four dedicated bases in Sligo, Shannon, Waterford, and Dublin Weston Airport.
"The Coast Guard's aviation service will also have fixed-wing aircraft capability"
The Coast Guard's aviation service will also have fixed-wing aircraft capability available on a 24/7 basis to support the delivery of these essential services. Two King Air fixed-wing aircraft based at Shannon Airport will provide support for Coast Guard search and rescue operations and environmental monitoring.
The new IRCG aviation service will be introduced by Bristow Ireland Limited gradually on a phased basis and will be fully operational by July 2025. The contract makes provision for the possibility of the Air Corps assuming responsibility for the fixed-wing element of the service after five years.
The Department and the Irish Coast Guard look forward to working closely with Bristow Ireland Limited as it provides these essential state services under the new aviation service contract. The contract is expected to enhance mission control and communication systems, providing a more efficient and effective service to those in need.
Irish Coast Guard volunteers who were dismissed or left are seeking a meeting with the new management team, which has been charged with conducting a wide-ranging review of the State service.
As The Sunday Independent reports, the review of “all aspects” of the Irish Coast Guard, including “culture, governance, strategy, structure and roles”, has been commissioned by Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers.
He has charged his department’s new assistant secretary-general Joanna Cullen with “driving” and “delivering” a “transformation programme”, following the review, which would “renew and refresh” the service.
Micheál O’Toole, who was formerly an Irish Coast Guard operations manager, has been appointed as director to replace acting director Eugene Clonan.
The Irish Coast Guard Volunteers Representative Association Irish Coast Guard Volunteers Representative Association (ICGVRA) says it has welcomed the move, and is seeking an urgent meeting with both O’Toole and Cullen in a spirit of “seeking a resolution”.
The association, representing both serving and former volunteers with the Irish Coast Guard, was formed in Clare in late 2021, following a commemoration for late ICG volunteer Caitriona Lucas who lost her life during a search in September 2016.
The investigation into Ms Lucas’s death was critical of aspects of Irish Coast Guard management.
Coast Guard management weaknesses were also highlighted in the subsequent investigation into the Rescue 116 helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, Capt Mark Duffy and winch crew Ciarán Smith and Paul Ormsby off north Mayo in March 2017.
ICGVRA chair John O’Mahony, who had volunteered for 25 years, says his group involves both serving members, experienced rescue personnel who were dismissed “without adequate notice or recourse to appeal”, and members who resigned. Ms Lucas’s husband Bernard is vice-chair of the group.
Last May, an Oireachtas committee heard that morale among volunteers in the Irish Coast Guard is currently at an "all-time low", in part due to increasing "red tape" and the handling of disciplinary proceedings against members.
Read The Sunday Independent here
Valentia Coast Guard was alerted by a concerned member of the public yesterday afternoon that a person had fallen into the water near Culoo Rock on the western side of Valentia Island.
The incident occurred at around 4:50pm on the same day. In response, the Coast Guard issued a broadcast to all craft in the area and dispatched the Valentia Lifeboat, Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter R115, and Iveragh Coast Guard Unit to the scene.
Fortunately, the casualty was able to keep afloat until the lifeboat arrived, allowing them to recover the individual safely onboard.
The Irish fishing vessel 'Saveur Du Monde' was also present at the scene of the incident. Subsequently, the R115 helicopter winched the casualty from the Valentia Lifeboat and transferred them to University Hospital Tralee.
Thanks to the swift response and coordinated efforts of the Coast Guard and other units, the individual was rescued and received the necessary medical attention.
This serves as a reminder of the importance of remaining vigilant and informed of emergency services in the area.
Internal Irish Coast Guard Report Finds Volunteers Struggled With Safety Gear After RIB Capsize
An unpublished Irish Coast Guard report reveals that four volunteers struggled with their safety equipment after a rescue RIB capsized off Inch beach, Co Kerry almost nine years ago.
As The Sunday Independent reports, one crewman on the Dingle Irish Coast Guard RIB who did manage to inflate his lifejacket when thrown into the water found himself “gasping for air”.
He had to “prize the bladders of the lifejacket apart to breath” before he believes he “may have lost consciousness”, the internal report for the Irish Coast Guard says.
The RIB was trying to assist surfers when it capsized on August 25th, 2014, off Inch beach.
All four Dingle Coast Guard volunteers were in the water for about ten minutes, with three making it ashore, and all were airlifted to Tralee General Hospital by the Shannon-based Rescue 115 helicopter.
The newspaper reports that the Maritime SAR Services Ltd analysis for the Irish Coast Guard on the Dingle incident is central to the subsequent investigation into the death of Irish Coast Guard volunteer Caitriona Lucas.
As with the RIB on which Ms Lucas was a crew member on September 12th, 2016, the Dingle RIB on August 25th, 2014 was operating in a “surf zone” – contrary to Irish Coast Guard policy - where the vessel was exposed to, and caught by, breaking waves.
There were problems with safety equipment and with communication in both cases.
However, the 2014 incident was not investigated by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), and the findings of the Irish Coast Guard’s internal report were not widely circulated to its volunteers around the coast.
This factor was highlighted by the MCIB in its inquiry into Ms Lucas’s death.
It has also been raised by maritime lawyer Michael Kingston, who is representing the Lucas family at the resumed preliminary inquest into Ms Lucas’s death which is due to sit in Kilmallock court, Co Limerick on Monday (June 12).
Read The Sunday Independent report here
CHC Ireland Pays Tribute to SAR staff After Losing Out to Bristow on New Coast Guard Contract
CHC Ireland said it is “with regret” that it learnt it was unsuccessful in its bid to retain its contract for the Irish Coast Guard search and rescue (SAR) service.
“CHC has served the people of Ireland for 20-plus years with great distinction,” it has said.
“ All of our staff have given 100% commitment to the Irish Coast Guard and Ireland. Many have been recognised for their life-saving missions with international bravery awards,” it said.
The company thanked all its staff for “their unflinching commitment to their duty.”
Alan Corbett, Bristow's Chief Operating Officer, Government Services, said: "We are honoured the Irish Department of Transport has confirmed Bristow Ireland as the preferred bidder for the provision of the Irish Coast Guard Aviation Service.”
"We will continue working closely with the Irish Department of Transport to finalise contracts and look forward to integrating our significant global experience and capabilities into this critical public service," he said.
Bristow Ireland Ltd company is part of the Bristow Group, which holds Britain’s 1.6 billion euro search and rescue (SAR) contract for the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency.
It also holds the SAR contract for The Netherlands Coast Guard, and has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, Guyana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad and the U.S.
The 670 million euro Irish contract will run for ten years in the case of the helicopter service and five years for the fixed wing element of the service, with options to extend both out to 13 years, according to Ireland’s transport minister Eamon Ryan.
The contract makes provision for the Air Corps to provide the fixed wing element of the service after five years.
Over six years ago, CHC Ireland lost four of its air crew when a Dublin-based Sikorsky S-92 crashed at Blackrock Island off the north Mayo coast.
Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, Capt Mark Duffy and winch crew Ciarán Smith and Paul Ormsby lost their lives in March 2017 while providing top cover for a medical evacuation from a British-registered fishing vessel off the Irish west coast.
The bodies of the two winch crew have not been found.
The Department of Transport said that the preferred bidder was selected “following a comprehensive procurement project” that included “an initial market engagement process, a prequalifying process, an initial request for tender, a negotiation process, and final evaluation of a best and final offer tender from the shortlisted bidders”.
“Over the coming weeks, the Department of Transport will be working with the preferred bidder to finalise contracts,” it said.
Bristow Ireland Limited Announced as Preferred Tenderer for New €670m Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Aviation Contract
The Government has today announced that it has accepted a recommendation from the Minister of Transport Eamon Ryan TD and Minister of State Jack Chambers TD to offer the next Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) search & rescue aviation (SAR) contract to Bristow Ireland Limited.
The contract will provide for the day and night-time operation of four helicopter bases in Sligo, Shannon, Waterford and Dublin. In addition to the helicopter service, the new Coast Guard aviation service will, for the first time, also include a fixed-wing aircraft element.
Subject to contract, the new IRCG aviation service contract will cost approximately €670 million (excluding VAT) and will run for 10 years in the case of the helicopter service and five years in the case of the fixed-wing element of the service, with options to extend both services out to 13 years. The contract makes provision for the Air Corps to provide the fixed-wing element of the service after five years.
The preferred bidder was selected following a comprehensive procurement project undertaken by the Department of Transport that included an initial market engagement process, a prequalifying process, an initial Request for Tender, a negotiation process, and final evaluation of a Best and Final Offer Tender from the shortlisted bidders.
Over the coming weeks the Department of Transport will be working with the preferred bidder to finalise contracts.
A date has been set for an inquest hearing into the death of Irish Coast Guard volunteer Caitriona Lucas (41), over six years after her death off the Clare coast.
As The Irish Examiner reports, the Limerick coroner’s office has confirmed that the hearing will take place at Kilmallock courthouse, Co Limerick, on April 12th.
Ms Lucas, a mother-of-two, librarian and highly experienced volunteer with the Irish Coast Guard’s Doolin unit, died after a RIB attached to the Kilkee Coast Guard unit capsized during a search operation on September 12th, 2016.
She was the first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to lose their life during a tasking.
Ms Lucas’s husband, Bernard told journalist Gordon Deegan that it was “about time” that an inquest date had been set.
“I welcome it because by the time the inquest is held in April it will be six years and seven months,” Mr Lucas said, stating he did not know why there had been such a delay.
Maritime lawyer Michael Kingston had also recently described the delay in setting a date as “shocking”.
As Afloat has previously reported, two separate investigations were completed some time ago into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report was published in December 2018.
Two years ago, Ms Lucas’s husband, Bernard Lucas, was informed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that no criminal charges would be brought after a separate investigation by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
The MCIB report was critical of the Irish Coast Guard’s safety management system, and catalogued a number of systems and equipment failures in relation to the Kilkee Coast Guard unit.
However, Mr Lucas said that he “very disappointed” that the published MCIB report had failed to address questions over equipment his wife was wearing, and both he and members of the Kilkee Coast Guard unit queried the location given in the report.
Mr Kingston has also criticised the MCIB report into Ms Lucas’s death, and has called for a re-investigation.
Read more in The Irish Examiner here
Department of Transport to Commence Recruitment for Senior Maritime and Irish Coast Guard Positions
The Department of Transport is expanding its dedicated staff in key areas of the maritime sector and across the Irish Coast Guard to address the ever-growing demands on its services.
The Coast Guard comprises almost 100 full-time staff, who are supported by nearly 1,000 volunteers across 44 units nationwide. Around 400 individuals are saved every year by the organisation as it responds to almost 3,000 call-outs.
The Department of Transport has decided to appoint new leaders and managers across the maritime sector and within the Irish Coast Guard to support this vital work.
The vacancies include Assistant Secretary, Maritime Policy, a role which will drive and deliver Government Policy in the maritime sector and ensure that it meets international obligations and domestic needs.
For the first time ever, the Department is also recruiting an Assistant Secretary for the Irish Coast Guard who will have overall strategic, operational and governance responsibility for the service. They will also manage a diverse workforce of uniformed officers, volunteer units, operational staff, policy officials and administrative support staff.
A core aspect of this role will be to deliver a transformation programme of the IRCG following a review across all aspects of the Coast Guard Service including strategy, structure, roles, culture and governance, to ensure that the IRCG is best placed to succeed in the 21st century.
Additionally, the Department is also recruiting for the role of Director of the Irish Coast Guard. The Director will be a key member of senior management and will be responsible for continuing the delivery of a best-in-class service that is trusted by the citizen. The role will include ensuring effective and efficient delivery for critical incidence responses to maritime emergencies.
The Department is committed to equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion in its workforce.
Full details of the various roles, including specific eligibility requirements, will be available on www.publicjobs.ie and on Afloat with links below
An additional three upcoming opportunities include: Quality Assurance Officer in the Irish Coast Guard; Health and Safety Officer in the Irish Coast Guard; and Electronics Officer in the Irish Coast Guard. These roles will be open for application in the coming months.
Assistant Secretary, Maritime Policy The Department of Transport are looking for an exceptional individual to lead Ireland’s Maritime Policy and to make a real impact across a full range of issues relating to this sector.
Assistant Secretary, Irish Coast Guard We are seeking an exceptional individual at Assistant Secretary level to have overall strategic, operational and governance responsibility for the service in Ireland. The department are looking for an individual who will deliver a best-in-class service where volunteers and permanent staff are proud to work.
Director of the Irish Coast Guard The Director of the Irish Coast Guard will be responsible for delivering a best-in-class service that is trusted by the citizen and be a key member of the senior management team in the Department of Transport.
Coast Guard Volunteers Association Seeks Legal Advice on New Whistleblowing Policy
The Irish Coast Guard Volunteers Representative Association (ICGVRA) says it is taking legal advice on a new protective disclosure policy rolled out by the Department of Transport.
Coast Guard volunteers around the coast have been informed that the department’s updated policy now covers volunteers, as well as current and former employees, independent contractors, trainees and job candidates.
The updated policy sets out the procedure by which a worker can make a protected disclosure, the way in which such reports are handled, and what the department will do to protect the reporting person.
The department says it is “strongly committed to supporting a culture where all our workers can safely speak up and report any concerns of relevant wrongdoing as defined in the legislation, and to provide the necessary supports to those who raise genuine concerns”.
The ICGVRA was formally initiated in Kilkee, Co Clare, in October 2021 following a commemoration for Irish Coast Guard volunteer Caitriona Lucas who lost her life at Kilkee on 12th September 2016.
It aims to provide a voice for current and former volunteers who have had issues with Irish Coast Guard management which have not been addressed.
“The new protective disclosure policy has been produced. However, we know very little about how it will affect us in ICGVRA,” the association’s chairman John O’Mahony told Afloat.
“We may be excluded, however equally, it may have come about because of the pressure we have brought to bear on the Irish Coast Guard and Department of Transport,” he said. He said they had sought advice from a solicitor.
“There is no contact between ICGVRA and the Irish Coast Guard or Department of Transport as they ignore us and claim that Coastal Unit Advisory Group (CUAG) is the representative group for volunteers,” he said.
“Our view is that CUAG was for 22 years used as the advisory group, which its name indicates. It never did any representative work on behalf of any of the volunteers that have been dismissed or were in dispute with the IRCG,” he said.
Last May, an Oireachtas committed heard that morale among volunteers in the Irish Coast Guard is currently at an "all-time low", in part due to increasing "red tape" and the handling of disciplinary proceedings against members.
The ICGVRA told the Oireachtas committee on transport that many search and rescue units were at half strength due to internal tensions in the organisation.
It also said that many volunteers felt they had been unfairly targeted by Coast Guard management under the organisation’s disciplinary procedures, which had led to many senior volunteers resigning or being dismissed.