Lifeboat fails to launch during rescue training

Lifeboat fails to launch during rescue training


Anton McNulty

Rough seas meant that Achill Coast Guard’s D Class lifeboat could not be launched during a major rescue training exercise in Achill last Thursday. The incident highlights the need for investment in a new inshore lifeboat, according to the Achill Coast Guard.
Up to 50 members of the Coast Guard, RNLI and Order of Malta were involved in the exercise. The joint rescue was staged at the Currane peninsula, with members of the three emergency services taking part in a simulated rescue exercise in Clew Bay. For the purposes of the exercise, a passenger ferry travelling from Clare Island to Achill was supposed to have sank with 12 people on board.
Noreen Sweeney, Deputy Officer in Charge with the Achill Coast Guard, told The Mayo News that their inability to launch the lifeboat demonstrated the unit’s need for a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), which could be launched in rough seas.
“The conditions were horrific and we were not able to launch our D Class boat. It cannot go out in anything greater than Force 5 wind and yesterday it was Force 6 and 7. This highlights the need for a RIB for the Achill area. While the lifeboat was there, it cannot get close to the shore. If someone really needed to be taken from the sea we would not have been able to do it. To be able to launch our boat could be the difference in saving a life,” she said.
However, Noreen said that overall, the exercise was a huge success and proved that all the local emergency services could be called upon if there was a real emergency. She explained that although everyone involved knew an exercise was due, they did not know when. They had responded to the call out as a real emergency when their pagers first went off.