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Displaying items by tag: All Ireland Sailing Championships

#allireland – London Olympic keelboat representative Peter O'Leary is the new All Ireland sailing champion after a light air series was completed at Dromineer on Lough Derg this afternoon. Cork sailors also filled second and third spots with O'Leary's Baltimore club mate Fionn Lyden, who won the Junior title a fortnight ago, second and Royal Cork's George Kenefick, the defending champion, third.

O'Leary from Baltimore Sailing Club dominated the final three-race series and did not to have to sail the last race but did so anyway. He lifted the Helmsman's Salver for the second time, having first won the title in 2006.

O'Leary who raced under the burgee of Baltimore Sailing Club but who also has close ties with Royal Cork becomes the seventh Cork sailor in a row to win the title. His brother Nicholas being a triple champion from 2008 to 2010.

A total of 24 sailors drawn from a selection of one design and cruiser classes competed for the title. O'Leary was issued with a wild card invitation by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) following his Olympic regatta participation.

Racing in J80 keelboats, the sixth consecutive time the event was held in the keelboat class, the regatta began with a qualifier round on Friday for eight of the teams with only the top three then making it through to a 16 boat, 2 flight preliminary series on Saturday. The original aim had been for the two separate flights of eight boats to sail three races a piece before a two-race repechage and three-race final series on Sunday. However due to the absence of any wind on Saturday afternoon it was not possible for the second flight to sail any races. Based on the circumstances, the race management team made the decision to forego the repechage in favour of attempting the three-race series for Flight 2 in the morning with the top four boats from each flight progressing to a three-race final series in the afternoon.

Competition in the final series was tight. Amongst the eight helms were three former Olympic sailors including Peter O'Leary and Ryan Seaton who both competed at the 2012 Games and Mark Mansfield who sailed at four consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2004. Also sailing was reigning champion, George Kenefick who was back to defend his title and the youngest of all the competitors, 17 year old Fionn Lyden who only two weeks ago won the ISA Junior All Ireland Championship in Schull, Co. Cork.

olearytrophy

Baltimore's Peter O'Leary holds the original 1947 IYA Salver trophy aloft at Lough Derg this afternoon

The deciding three races began in the early afternoon in winds that steadily grew to 12 knots for the final race. Peter O'Leary, who was sailing with his brother Robert O'Leary and Robbie English, quickly made his presence known by taking the lead and winning the first race. Having been top of the leader board going in to the final, Fionn Lyden and his crew of David Harte and Darragh McCormack slipped to second place overall followed closely by Mark Mansfield in third.

Another race win followed by a second place finish and the title was Peter's. Young Fionn Lyden sailed a magnificent regatta and beat off two Olympians to claim the silver. In third place was last year's winner George Kenefick who clawed his way up from the back of the fleet to win the final race and take the bronze. He finished tied on points with Mansfield but beat him based on a count back; George's best result during the regatta was a first while Mark's was a second.

The final results are below:

Helm

Club

R 1

R 2

R 3

R 4

R 5

R 6

Pts

Disc

Net

Peter O'Leary

Baltimore SC

5

1

2

1

1

2

12

5

7

Fionn Lyden

Baltimore SC

2

3

1

3

4

3

16

4

12

George Kennefick

Royal Cork YC

1

6

6

5

2

1

21

6

15

Mark Mansfield

Royal Cork YC

2

5

3

2

3

8

23

8

15

Noel Butler

Dun Laoghaire Motor YC

3

2

4

4

8

4

25

8

17

Ryan Seaton

Ballyholme YC

3

3

1

6

7

7

27

7

20

David Dickson

Lough Ree YC

7

1

3

7

6

6

30

7

23

Ian Nagle

Royal Cork YC

8

2

4

8

5

5

32

8

24

Published in All Irelands

#allirelandsailing – Defending champion George Kenefick from Royal Cork has suffered a set back at the All Ireland sailing championships having failed to make the top of his flight after light winds on Lough Derg thwarted a full programme of races being sailed today.

Kenefick did not make the top three in the very light conditions in Dromineer and will be depending on tomorrow's repechage along with the SB20's Ben Duncan, Alexander Mitton of the Beneteau 31.7s and the J24 champion J.P. McCaldin to advance.

Two flights of eight boats were to sail three races a piece today but only the first flight managed any races. With no wind at all on the lough this afternoon the second flight has been postponed to be sailed tomorrow morning, the final day of the competition.

In flight one Schull's Fionn Lyden, who won the Junior All Irelands earlier this month finished top. Lyden had one race win in the force two breeze and finished the three races on a total of six points. He was followed by Fireball dinghy ace Noel Butler on 9 points with local Shannon One Design expert David Dickson third on 11 points.

From Friday's qualifier rounds Mark Mansfield has secured his spot in the second flight of the finals tomorrow. Ian Nagle who had two race wins also went through with Mitton.

The forecast for tomorrow on Lough Derg is slightly better with 8 knots from the east.

Published in All Irelands

#ISA ALL IRELAND - Howth Yacht Club will be rallying behind Robin Hegarty as he represents the Puppeteer class as the club's 2012 champion at the ISA Senior All Ireland Sailing Championship in Tipperary this weekend.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Ireland’s 'most prestigious' annual national sailing event will take place from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 October at Lough Derg Yacht Club in Nenagh.

The invitational championship, which began in 1947, will see 21 of Ireland’s leading sailors compete over the three days in the ISA’s fleet of J80 keelboats for the title of 2012 champion and the ISA Helmsman’s Trophy.   

Following a review of the event earlier this year, the championship qualification process has undergone some changes. A total of 16 boats will compete across two fleets of eight on Saturday. 13 of these places are allocated prior to the event; one to the reigning champion, two wild cards and 10 to particular classes based on their attendance figures at national championships.

The remaining places will be filled following an eight boat qualifier on the Friday. There the top three boats will earn their place in Saturday racing. And the top three boats from each fleet on Saturday will progress to Sunday’s final fleet with two places remaining for the top two boats from a two race repechage on Sunday morning.

Published in All Irelands

#The line up for the All Ireland Sailing championships has been released today for the annual event to be staged on Lough Derg on October 5th. The full entry list announced by the ISA is below.

Returning to defend his title will be 24–year old George Kenefick from Cork who narrowly beat four time Olympic sailor Mark Mansfield in a breezy climax in 2011.

Mansfield will also be competing next Friday representing the 1720 class but he will need to win one of the three spots available through the initial qualifier if he is to compete against Kenefick again for the title.

The format for the event was reviewed last year after complaints that some classes were excluded. There has been comment this year though that the new format left 20 classes fighting for three places but it appears from the list below that only eight classes are taking up the Qualification round invitation.

Returning for a second consecutive year will be 2012 Olympic 49er sailor Ryan Seaton. Seaton from Belfast Lough finished third in 2011. Also in the line up is Seaton's London team-mate Star keelboat sailor Peter O'Leary.

The youngest competitor at the event will be Fionn Lyden, fresh from winning the Junior All Ireland Sailing Championship in Schull last weekend.  

 Friday Qualification Series

First Name

Surname

Club

Class

Robin

Hegarty

Howth Yacht Club

Puppeteer

Trevor

Kirkpatrick

Carrickfergus Sailing Club

Ruffian

Mark

Mansfield

Royal Cork Yacht Club

1720

Alexander

Mitton

Royal Irish Yacht Club

First 31.7 

Ian

Nagle

Royal Cork Yacht Club

ICRA '1'

Pat

O'Neill

Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club

E-Boat

Alan

Ruigrok

Rush Sailing Club

Laser     

Emmet

Ryan

Royal St George Yacht Club

RS400

 

Saturday Preliminary Series

First Name

Surname

Club

Class

Julie

Ascoop

Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club

IDRA 14

Noel

Butler

Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club

Fireball

Vincent

Delany

Royal St George Yacht Club

Squib

David

Dickson

Lough Ree Yacht Club

Shannon OD

Ben

Duncan

ISA

SB20

Timothy

Goodbody

Royal Irish Yacht Club

ICRA '3'

George

Kennefick

Royal Cork Yacht Club

2011 Champion

Guy

Kilroy

Royal Irish Yacht Club

Water Wag

Fionn

Lyden

Baltimore Sailing Club

Radial & Junior

J.P.

McCaldin

Lough Erne Yacht Club

J24

Jonathan

O’Rourke

National Yacht Club

Mermaid

Peter

O'Leary

Royal Cork Yacht Club

Wild Card

Ryan

Seaton

Ballyholme Yacht Club

Wild Card

TBC

Friday Qualifier

TBC

Friday Qualifier

TBC

Friday Qualifier

Published in All Irelands

It is important that all classes can aspire to participate in the All Ireland Championships but it needs to be seen to be fair and equitable. Giving pre-emptive qualification rights purely on the basis of numbers attending a class's championships when many are struggling for numbers is the wrong tack says Water Rat because it does little to enhance the stature of the event.

Having looked at the selection of participants from different classes for the All Ireland sailing competiton (formerly theHelmsman's Championships), I wonder if the ISA, the organiser of the event, is concerned at the consequences of the changes they made to the qualification process? There will be obvious delight for some in the pre qualified-entry into the finals but as a regular participant in several other classes I have to observe that important qualitative issues seem to have suffered as a consequence of the new politically correct process. (See below for ISA arrangements).

Without denigrating the abilities of representatives from classes such as the Mermaid, Squib, Water Wags, ICRA, 2 & 3, it is patently silly to determine priority eligibility on a purely numeric fleet size only basis. This is political correctness gone completely mad! For example ICRA Cruisers Zero, the class of our Commodore's Cup squad would never be in with a chance of pre-qualification as the Cruisers Zero fleet of forty foot boats could never muster the same numbers as say a dinghy class.

Expecting people from other competitive classes to make a significant three day commitment for accommodation, entrance fees and damage deposits with the prospect of being eliminated after an afternoon's competition seems grossly unfair and will inevitably discourage attendance by many of the most talented sailors coming from less numerically strong fleets with perhaps the greatest depth of talent.

Under these circumstances it will not be a surprise if many so called 'second' and 'third' tier nominees from extremely competitive but smaller classes ignore participation in the event because of cost and uncertainty of ultimate participation for the last phase. This is because only three places are available from 20 potential candidates from classes such as the highly competitive SB20, Flying Fifteen, 1720, Fireball, J24, RS 200, RS 400, and Dragon, and does not include other strong classes such as the Etchells and J109 who are on a waiting list for an opportunity to qualify. The competitive National 18s (who had fifty boats for a 2011 anniversary event) don't even get a mention!

The event also known as the 'All Ireland Sailing Championships' and 'the Champion of Champions Event' has had many changes over its 60–year lifespan but change needs to be made carefully and for the right reasons.

If ever there was an example of unexpected consequences from well intentioned changes to what was acknowledged as a system which was not working, is this it?

Please let us know your views in the comments box below

ALL IRELAND SAILING 2012 (from ISA Website on September 7th 2012)

The ISA is delighted to announce that the ISA Senior All Ireland Sailing Championship will take place in Lough Derg Yacht Club from the 5th to the 7th of October.

Invitations have also been sent to selected nominees as follows:

The first group have been invited directly to the final series on Saturday from Stage One:

Stage One

2011 Champion George Kenefick

Wild Card (TBA)

Wild Card (TBA)

Top 3 Dinghy & Keelboat Classes

Laser Radial *

Laser *

Mermaid *

Squib *

ICRA '2' *

ICRA '3' *

Next 4 from combined Dinghy & Keelboat Classes

GP14

Shannon OD

Multihull

Water Wag

Stage Two Qualifier - Friday

Junior Champion

Laser SB20

Ruffian

Fireball

J24

ICRA '1'

IDRA 14

Puppeteer

Dragon

RS Elite

Sigma 33

1720

First 31.7

RS200

RS400

Shipman

Waiting for Qualifier place:

Howth 17

E-Boat

ICRA '0'

Etchells

J/109

The names with an * are from the top three dinghy and keelboat classes by number. Only these classes are allowed to pass an invite to the next nominee from their class as far as third place. The next group are in the qualifier with at least three places available. Followed by the waiting list who will move up as those become available.

Published in Water Rat
Ireland's junior sailing event, the ISA Junior & Girls All Ireland Sailing Championships, will take place on the 29th and 30th of October in the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire in a fleet of nine Fireflies. The invitational championship will see 18 of Ireland's leading junior sailors compete over the two days for the title of 2011 Champion.

Each competitor will sail with one crew member of their choice in one of the nine Fireflies. On Saturday the teams will be separated into two flights (groups) and will sail three races each. The same flights will then sail an additional two races on Sunday with the top three teams in each flight progressing through to the medal race.

The 18 competitors taking part in the 2011 ISA Junior & Girls All Ireland Sailing Championships are:

youthsailing_table

Published in Youth Sailing

They've changed the date, the notice of race and now the venue but the eight finalists in this year's All Ireland Sailing Championships stay the same. We're all hoping the ISA gets more luck on the wind front next Saturday when the championship is rerun in Kinsale. Who do you think will win? Cast your vote in the left hand column.

More All Ireland articles HERE

Published in All Irelands

After an abandonment due to lack of wind in early October and a long wait for news of a new date, the Irish Sailing Association has announced its All Ireland Championship will now take place on November 20th.The competitors have agreed to be available on this weekend to sail but the announcement on the ISA website does not name the venue, presumably the original location, Cork Harbour.  the finalists and drawn boats are:

Final Flight

1. McCann Fitzgerald Anthony O'Leary

2. D/L Marina Neil Kenefick

3. O'Leary Insurance Ewen Barry

4. Smyths Toys Nicholas O'Leary

5. Dyno Rod Garrett May

6. Smart Niall Henry

7. KPMG James Espey

8. Irish Examiner Nick Walsh

 

Published in All Irelands

Local helm Nick Walsh representing the National 18 dinghy class is guaranteed a place in the  final of the All Ireland sailing championships this weekend after wins this afternoon. Conditions were excellent with northerly breezes and flat water and a strong flood tide. Joining him on Sunday in the finals is Sligo's Niall Henry (GP14). Racing continues tomorrow in Cork harbour and the competition for the Junior and Girls Fleets will also get underway. Bob Bateman's photos from this afternoon's flight action below:

AllIreland_10-2963

AllIreland_10-2988AllIreland_10-2997AllIreland_10-4385AllIreland_10-4404AllIreland_10-4408AllIreland_10-4419AllIreland_10-4425AllIreland_10-4428AllIreland_10-4446AllIreland_10-4447AllIreland_10-4461

Provisional results for Flight 1 Race 3

Boat

Helm

Place

2

Nick Walsh

1

3

Conor Turvey

2

4

Niall Henry

3

6

Garrett May

4

7

Simon Mitton

5

5

Clem McElligott

6

8

Pat O'Neill

7

Provisional results for Flight 1 Race 2

Boat

Helm

Place

2

Nick Walsh

1

4

Niall Henry

2

6

Garrett May

3

3

Conor Turvey

4

7

Simon Mitton

5

8

Pat O’Neill

6

5

Clem McElligott

7

Provisional results for Flight 1 Race 1

Boat

Helm

Place

7

Simon Mitton

1

4

Niall Henry

2

6

Garrett May

3

2

Nick Walsh

4

5

Clem McElligott

5

8

Pat O’Neill

6

3

Conor Turvey

7

Published in ISA
Page 4 of 4

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