Tag Archives: Kilkee Coastguard

ONE of the principal organisers of a protest in Kilkee, aimed at highlighting concerns relating to the Irish Coast Guard in the town, has claimed that locals are not confident with regard to the local unit. “There is a big lack of confidence in the current service in Kilkee and that was borne out this summer. They only got a couple of call-outs. I got two call-outs to go out and pull people in and the dive centre got one call-out, instead of them ringing the coast guard,” Manuel Di Lucia revealed. Almost 50 people attended a second public protest in Kilkee on Sunday. It was emphasised that a year on from the tragic death of volunteer, Caitríona Lucas, the Kilkee unit of the coast guard has been largely land-based, with members not allowed beyond St George’s Head. “Most incidents happen way outside the bay, up and down the coast,” Kilkee Marine Rescue founder Di Lucia said. That service was …

WHILE not yet fully confirmed, the body recovered from the shore in Labasheeda on Tuesday is reported to be that of a Limerick man. It is believed that the man has been missing since late last year. The body was spotted shortly before 5pm on Tuesday by the Shannon Rescue Helicopter on the shore, close to the townland of Colmanstown. The helicopter had been on a training exercise. Kilrush RNLI and the Kilkee Coastguard Unit were called to help with the recovery operation while the helicopter returned from Shannon with two Gardai. Officer in Charge of the Irish Coastguard Unit in Kilkee, Martony Vaughan, outlined the groups role in the recovery. “We were tasked just before 5pm on Tuesday to assist the Gardai in Labasheeda at Colmanstown Castle with the recovery of a body from the shoreline. We proceeded to the area and we assisted the Gardai with the recovery. The casualty was about a kilometre from road access so …

A KAYAKER in his mid 30s, who is believed to have been visiting the area, was pulled from the water in the West End, Kilkee late on Wednesday afternoon. Members of the public had tried to help him by throwing life buoys into the water. The man got into difficulty at Majella’s Cove just before 5pm and was rescued shortly afterwards, after Kilkee Coastguard were alerted by the public. “It kicked off at 4.55pm, following reports from numerous members of the public that there was a person in difficulty in the bay in Kilkee. He was clinging to a kayak that had got overturned. The weather had got extremely bad here fairly fast,” Martony Vaughan, officer in charge of Irish Coastguard Unit in Kilkee said. “We were alerted and we got him over on the rocks. We took him to safety, recovered his kayak and several other bits. Members of the public had been throwing life rings into him from …

  A major search for a missing Quilty man involving emergency services and volunteers will resume tomorrow morning. The 20 year-old man, who was last seen in the early hours of Monday morning, is believed to have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Spanish Point. The Irish Coastguard was contacted and they in turn dispatched units from Kilkee and Doolin Coastguard around 11 am this morning for the start of the official search. The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter conducted an aerial search in a bid to locate the missing man. It is feared that the man may have entered the sea near Spanish Point as some of his personal belongings were found in this area. He was first noticed missing by family members in the early hours who contacted emergency services. Family members, volunteers and the coastguard units conducted a land search earlier today until it was stood down a few hours ago due to a …

Members of Kilkee Coastguard Unit are on standby to resume a search for a young Polish national feared drowned off the West Clare coast. Efforts to locate the 34 year-old, who was living in the Killaloe area, have proven unsuccessful, despite the best efforts of Kilkee Coastguard and the Shannon-based rescue helicopter. Adverse weather conditions prevented the resumption the search on Monday morning and local marine volunteers need an improvement before they can return to their difficult task. People are advised to stay away from any exposed area along the West Clare coastline, particularly during periods of strong gales, which are forecast this week. The alarm was raised in the early hours of Saturday morning when the man’s car was located in the car park at the Loop Head lighthouse. The Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre at Valentia in Co Kerry was alerted amid fears for the man’s safety. At around 4.30am, the Kilkee unit of the Coast …

JENNY Carway has served as a marine rescue volunteer in Kilkee for 18 years. Living on the Carrigaholt side of Kilkee, she is the longest-serving member of the Irish Coastguard Unit but that’s not all what that distinguishes Jenny from her colleagues. Her accent is somewhat Irish but not completely. A simple question resulted in an intriguing response. “I’m a blow-in. I’m originally from Somalia,” Jenny replied. Her background is fascinating. “My grandparents were Irish. We lived in Uganda through Idi Amin’s time and we had to leave. My brothers were in boarding school in Ireland and my parents decided to give Ireland a go so we came here. We lived in Limerick and I’d come to Kilkee as a kid for summer holidays. So I just came down here and stayed here since. I came here diving. I enjoy it. It’s a great place to live,” she surmised. Jenny left Africa when she was 11. She has yet to …