White parachute flares were deployed from the high cliffs overlooking the bay, proving very effective at illuminating large sections of the shoreline. Overall, the exercise was very useful with all the search teams successfully and quickly locating their missing person “targets”.

Skerries Coast Guard – a voluntary rescue unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty, even if you only think someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

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At 06:10 this morning, the Skerries Coast Guard team were paged by the Coast Guard’s Marine Operations Centre (MOC) to assist with an incident at Balbriggan harbour, 5 miles north of Skerries. Balbriggan Gardai had received a public report of a person near Balbriggan harbour who may have required assistance. The Skerries Coast Guard team arrived on scene at the harbour and within minutes the casualty was successfully assisted from danger by Balbriggan Gardai. No further action was required and the team returned to base.

Incident #26 of 2011

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty, even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Skerries Coast Guard – a voluntary rescue unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

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This morning, the Skerries Coast Guard team conducted a search training exercise at Bremore, one mile north of Balbriggan harbour. This scenario based exercise included a detailed shore search covering several miles of the North Balbriggan coast. Weather on scene was favourable, with good visibility and dry conditions. As part of the exercise, the team also fired several marine flares. Photos of this exercise are available in our online gallery.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty, even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

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

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At 23:39 this evening, a concerned member of the public contacted the Coast Guard’s control centre to report unusual lights off the coast of Skerries. There was concern that the lights could have been from a boat in difficulty near the coast.

The Skerries team were on scene within minutes, facing extremely challenging  weather conditions; Force 7 south easterly winds, heavy rain and reduced visibility. The team quickly located the light and observed it for some time. Nothing unusual was noted and no further action was required.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident # 25 of 2011

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

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At 19:03 this evening, the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to investigate reports of multiple red parachute distress flares deployed North of Balbriggan. Concerned members of the public had contacted the Irish Coast Guard’s control centre to report sighting the orange/red parachute flares.

The Skerries team were immediately despatched to the scene and observed a number of flares in the area North of Balbriggan, near the Gormonston army training camp. It emerged that the army were engaged in exercises in the area and these involved the deployment of illuminating flares. No further action was required and the team returned to base.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident # 24 of 2011

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

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Shortly after 23:00 tonight, the Coast Guard’s control centre received a call from a member of the public at Rush, six miles South of Skerries, reporting a red distress flare near the coast. A rib heading South near Malahide also contacted the Coast Guard on VHF CH 16 to report spotting the flare.

The Skerries Coast Guard team were immediately despatched to the scene and a detailed search of the area was undertaken. No further flares were sighted and nothing unusual noted. The coast Guard issued a Pan Pan broadcast for all nearby ships to report anything unusual. No further action was required and the team returned to base.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident # 23 of 2011

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

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Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty in the water, even if you only think someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident #19 of 2011

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Skerries Coast Guard rescue vehicle overlooking Lambay Island

 This afternoon, the Skerries Coast Guard team were tasked to investigate a report of a boat in difficulty off the coast of Rush, approximately 5 miles South of Skerries. A concerned member of the public had contacted the Coast Guard’s operation centre on 999 to report a yacht that appeared to be in difficulty near Lambay island. The weather conditions on scene were extremely challenging and the yacht appeared to be having difficulty making headway. Of most concern was its proximity to the rocky shores of Lambay isalnd. The Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 116 was also tasked from its base at Dublin airport.

Upon arriving at Rush, the Skerries Coast Guard team monitored the yacht and observed that it was successfully making good progress away from the shoreline and no further action was required. Before the Skerries team and Rescue 116 had departed, the Coast Guard’s operations centre received another unrelated report from a member of the public at Rush.

A small boat had been spotted drifting out to sea from Rogerstown estuary. The caller was concerned that there may have been a person on board. The coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 116, quickly located the boat approximately 1 mile West of Lambay island and reported no persons on board. Initial investigations by Rescue 116 suggested that the boat’s mooring rope may have snapped in the rough conditions. Nonetheless, an extensive search of the area was immediately undertaken by Rescue 116 and nothing further was sighted. In the meatnime, the Coast Guard managed to trace the boat’s owner who confirmed that it had broken its moorings and that no persons were on board. No further action was required and the Skerries Coast Guard team returned to base.

Incident # 18 of 2011

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty, even if you only think they could be in difficulty, call 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

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The Skerries Coast Guard team were immediately dispatched to investigate. Having arrived on scene within minutes, the team quickly located the capsized boat in the water at the North Western part of the estuary, to the West of the Dublin-Belfast railway line. Initial observations concluded that there was no sign of anyone in the water nearby. At the time there were several other persons engaged in watersports at the estuary including windsurfers and kayakers. The prevailing weather conditions on scene were mixed with good visibilityand clear skies, but strong gusting force 6 Southerly winds.

After brief shoreline searches and investigations , the team located the boat’s owner at the Southern shoreline of the estuary, he confirmed it had drifted away from a mooring and that nobody was on board at the time. The owner was making arrangements to have it righted and retrieved. No further action was required and the team returned to base.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty or even if you think that someone could be in difficulty, call 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Your call could save their life.

Incident #17 of 2011

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At 19:48 this evening, the volunteers of Skerries Coast Guard were tasked to investigate reports of an unmanned jetski adrift off the Balbriggan coast. A vigilant member of the public contacted the Coast Guard after spotting the object in the water some distance from the shore. The caller believed the object may have been an unmanned jetski adrift.

The Skerries Coast Guard team were immediately tasked to investigate the report. The primary concern in such cases is that the driver may have fallen from the jetski at speed and suffered serious injury. The Skerries team arrived at Balbriggan beach within minutes of the tasking and immediately began a shoreline search. The object was quickly identified and after detailed observation the team established it was a very small leisure craft, with persons on board. The vessel was not in difficulty and no further action was required.

Remember – if you spot someone in difficulty on the coast, or even if you only think that someone could be in difficulty, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD. Do not assume someone else had made the call.

Incident #16 of 2011

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