Coast Guard Helicopter visit – 23rd May 2016

Skerries Coast Guard R116This morning, the Skerries Coast Guard team hosted a visit from the Irish Coast Guard’s Sikorsky S92 helicopter. The Coast Guard helicopter landed on at Skerries Harps GAA pitch for special visit for the pupils of Scoil Realt na Mara primary school, Skerries. The Coast Guard’s helicopter landed on at the Skerries Harps GAA pitch at 09:30, with orange smoke flares deployed shortly beforehand to assist with wind speed/direction indication.

Skerries Coast Guard

Over 300 excited primary school pupils took part in the visit; learning about the vital work of the Coast Skerries Coast Guard
Guard helicopter crews, their local Skerries Coast Guard team and also the importance of water safety. The helicopter departed on schedule shortly after 11:00am, bringing to a close a thoroughly enjoyable event for all involved. Further photos of this visit will shortly be available in our online gallery.

Skerries Coast Guard extends its thanks to the Skerries Harps GAA club for allowing the use of their pitch to facilitate this helicopter visit.

Skerries Coast GuardSkerries Coast Guard

Darkness into Light 5km, Skerries – Saturday 7th May 2016

Skerries Coast Guard Darkness Into Light 2015

Once again this year, the Skerries Coast Guard team will be taking part in Pieta House’s Darkness Into Light 5km walk on Saturday 7th May. The team will be joining thousands of others for our local walk at Red Island, Skerries not far from our Coast Guard station. Starting at 04:15am, the route meanders through the streets of Skerries town before arriving back at Red Island, just as the sun rises over the Skerries islands.

For more information on how to sign up for Darkness Into Light and the work of Pieta House, visit Dil.Pieta.ie

St Patrick’s Day Parade, Skerries 2016

The Skerries Coast Guard team will once again be taking part in the annual St Patrick’s day parade in Skerries, The parade is organised by the Skerries Chamber of Commerce with countless local volunteers assisting with stewarding. All parade entrants and floats will assemble from 1:30pm at the South Strand, where the judging will take place before the parade starts at 3pm.

The Irish Coast Guard’s Dublin based Sikorsky S92 helicopter is also expected to perform a dramatic flyover of the Strand Street / South Strand Street area just as the parade begins at 3pm. The parade will depart the South Strand assembly area and will make its way past the Monument and travel up Strand Street, past the viewing platform at St Patrick’s Church before finishing up at the Skerries Mills carpark. This is always an extremely popular parade and there are plenty of excellent viewing spots for the crowds along the route.

Skerries Coast Guard – a voluntary search and rescue unit of the Irish Coast Guard

Skerries Coast Guard 2

Flare training – Skerries

This evening, the Skerries Coast Guard team conducted a routine pyrotechnic exercise near the Shenick Island area of Skerries. Conditions on scene were excellent with good visibility and offshore winds. As part of the training exercise, a number of white parachute flares were fired, illuminating large areas of the shoreline.

Skerries Coast Guard – a voluntary search & rescue unit of the Irish Coast Guard