Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 was on hand Wednesday to save a woman seen in the water close to cliffs near the Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head.

SAR Ireland reports that the helicopter was on a training exercise just up the coast in Malahide when passers-by raised the alarm with the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC).

Rescue 116 sped to the scene and after a short low-level search the woman was spotted and taken to a waiting ambulance at the coastguard base for treatment.

The Irish Times says Howth gardaí are investigating the incident.

Members of the public are invited to attend a major flood evacuation training exercise this Saturday at Broadmeadow Esturary in Swords, Co Dublin.

Rescue and boat rescue crews from the Irish Coast Guard are sceduled to join teams from the Dublin Fire Brigade, the Civil Defence Fire Service and Gardaí in the exercise, which will simulate the rescue of a group of people stranded after a flash flood.

The crews will test water rescue and river search procedures, with an emphasis on general water safety and providing assistance to other search and rescue agencies.

The excercise will begin at 11am on Saturday 16 April and will last for one hour. Members of the public are welcome to observe must must obey any instructions and must not interefere with the exercise.

For more information contact Bill Powderly, assistant chief Civil Defence officer with responsibility for the Fingal Area, at [email protected] or 086 380 5197.

The Irish Coast Guard's Kinsale unit was involved in the dramatic rescue of a man clinging to the sheer side of a cliff on Sunday.

TheJournal.ie reports that the man, a 20-something English tourist, had been caught on the beach below at high tide and tried to climb the cliff face to escape, but got into difficulty half-way up.

The man was spotted by a couple walking the clifftop near Garrettstown Beach, who alerted the Old Head of Kinsale coastguard unit. 

A cliff rescue expert abseiled down to attach a lifeline and harness, and the man was lifted to safety. He was treated at the scene for cuts and bruises.

Unit officer in charge Eddie Butler told the Irish Examiner that the man didn’t know how he had held on as long he did. 

"When we arrived and saw the situation, I didn’t think we’d save him. I think we got to him just in time," said Butler. "The water was raging beneath him. If he had lost his grip and fell in, he would have been lost." 

Elsewhere, six people were rescued from a sinking cruiser in the River Shannon on Sunday afternoon following its collision with a bridge in Killaloe, Co Clare.

According to The Irish Times, two members of the Irish Coast Guard's Killaloe unit arrived quickly on scene two help the six occupants and their dog to safety on the riverside.

The Killaloe unit reports that the cruiser was subsequently run aground in the shallows at Ballyvalley to prevent its sinking.

The Department of Transport's latest marine notice pertains to the requirements for passenger vessels in assisting with search and rescue services.

All passenger ships on international routes - such as ferries and cruise liners - are obliged to have a plan for co-operation with search and rescue operations should their assistance be needed. 

The notice outlines that any plan should be developed between the ship itself, the ship company and the Irish Coast Guard. Plans must also be drilled periodically to test their effectiveness.

Ship owners and masters are also obliged to give an indication of the existence of their co-operative rescue plans by way of SeaSafeIreland (SSI) notification. Should that not be possible, the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport must be notified directly.

A PDF of Marine Notice No 18 of 2011 is available to read and download HERE.

Marine surveyors are currently inspecting the German cargo ship which was refloated yesterday in Galway Bay after running aground early on Thursday.

The Irish Coast Guard confirmed to The Irish Times that no pollution had occurred in the grounding of the Pantanal on the south Connemara coast.

The 120m vessel was refloated at high tide yesterday morning with help from the Celtic Isle tug from Foynes in Co Limerick.

Ship managers Harren & Partner said the hull would undergo a diver inspection before the vessel sails for dry dock.

Yesterday Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney welcomed the "successful operation in very challenging conditions" and confirmed a thorough investigation of the incident by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.

The ship had been sailing from the Mediterranean to Rossaveal to collect two monohull ferries, sold to Mauritius, that had been built to serve the Aran Islands route.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The union representing coastguard staff in the UK has expressed its fears over the loss of air rescue services when a number of helicopters are transferred to Ireland next year.

Under CHC's €500m contract to provide search and rescue services for the Irish Coast Guard, four helicopters will be withdrawn from England and Scotland for redeployment in Ireland.

However, HeraldScotland reports that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has no plans to replace these helicopters, which separately service Scotland's Isle of Lewis and Shetland Islands as well as the Solent and Portland in England.

The recent collapse of the privatisation deal for UK search and rescue services has meant there is no new operator lined up to replace CHC.

Jeremy Gautrey of the PCS union said that the situation "has now potentially left the coastguard service stranded without the guarantee that it will have sufficient helicopters to carry out search-and-rescue operations when the current helicopters retire."

HeraldScotland has more on the story HERE.

Ireland's free provision of air-sea rescue services to Northern Ireland could be in jeopardy if the Bangor coastguard centre is closed, a DUP MP has warned.

In today's Belfast Telegraph, Strangford's Jim Shannon said that loss of the cross-border relationship would "most certainly end in loss of life".

Shannon reiterated that the Bangor centre is not only responsible for Northern Ireland's coastline but also its inland waterways and loughs, and mountain areas such as the Mournes.

Merseyside MP Bill Esterson is also quoted as warning that his local coastguard staff "don't feel equipped to look after Northern Ireland" if services are consolidated in Liverpool.

Shipping Minister Mike Penning gave his assurance that coastguard staff would not be victimised if they submit their views to the open consultation, which has been extended to 5 May.

Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney will have the remit for air and sea search and rescue services, it has emerged.

The Irish Times reports that the move is part of a promised consolidation of maritime functions under the new programme for Government.

Responsibilty for the Irish Coast Guard will however remain with Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar until an official transfer which is expected in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, fellow Fine Gael TD and Minister of State for NewEra, Fergus O'Dowd, intends to push for a review of the State's €500m contract for search and rescue services with CHC Ireland.

O’Dowd said there were “significant questions to answer” over the deal signed by former Transport Minister Noel Dempsey last year.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

A lifejacket was key to saving a youg boy's life when he was thrown from his boat in Lough Ramor on Sunday afternoon.

The 14-year-old was the sole occupant of a RIB on the Co Cavan lough, and had failed to secure the emergency engine stop cord to his body before he went overboard.

But his lifejacket kept him afloat while a passer-by raised the alarm.

SAR Ireland reports that Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 was dispatched from Dublin in response, but was stood down when the boat owner, who has been contacted by gardaí, was able to rescue the youngster.

The Government news service MerrionStreet.ie recently paid a visit to the Howth Coast Guard unit to see some of its 24 volunteers train on the water and cliffs.

Cliff rescue forms a major part of the work done by the Howth unit, so regular searches of the coves around the coast on Howth Head and training of new volunteers are are a must.

Their work is co-ordinated by staff at the new National Coast Guard Centre at the Department of Transport, which manages nearly 1,000 volunteers across 54 units nationwide.

MerrionStreet.ie has more on the story HERE.