One year on, Minister yet to meet sacked Doolin crew

IT took Minister of State with special responsibility for the Irish Coast Guard Hildegarde Naughton almost 11 months to meet some volunteers in the Doolin Coast Guard Unit (DCGU) following a public commitment.

Minister Naughton visited Doolin Coast Guard Unit in County Clare on October 27 this year to meet with the local volunteer interim team and hear first-hand about their life saving work.

However, her visit, attended by only one public representative, Councillor Joe Garrihy, has angered former volunteers after she failed to make any contact with the members who were controversially sacked after the unit was stood down from operations and training activities on November 2, 2021.

There were 12 volunteers in DCGU when the unit was disbanded.

Former volunteer Robert McCavery said members feel let down by politicians.

“Minister Hildegarde Naughton said on Clare FM last year she would visit the unit but she has never met us.”

In a statement issued by the Department of Transport last October, a Department spokesman said, “DCGU consists of seven volunteers and “eight more in Inis Óirr”.

“The Unit carries out search, boat and drone roles. In 2021, a total of 41 incident taskings were responded to, and a further 49 so far in 2022.

“Following the recent appointments of Officer in Charge and Deputy Officer in Charge the unit continues to work on its core competencies.

“The skills and dedication of the volunteers who staff the Doolin Coast Guard unit have proven extremely important in the delivery of the Irish Coast Guard mission statement – both locally within their community and in support of the national service.

“Further expansion of the unit will be undertaken to continue to provide an effective maritime search and rescue service in County Clare,” the Department stated.

Former long serving DCGU volunteer, Conor McGrath, claimed any suggestion the Doolin Unit is being assisted by Inis Óirr is a “big head office spin”, as they don’t have a climbing team and haven’t been trained to carry out technical search and rescue.

He said the island team can carry out first aid, assist the Coast Guard helicopter with remote landing and evacuating people, but doesn’t have a boat or a climbing team.

Speaking from Doolin on October 27, Minister Naughton said, “The Irish Coast Guard is one of the State’s Principal Emergency Services and their work is both challenging and varied.

“I would like to acknowledge the commitment of staff and volunteers here in Clare, and nationwide, for providing this crucial service and particularly for maintaining service delivery throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.”

In November 2021, Minister Naughton stated on Clare FM, “It is absolutely critical that we have a fit for purpose search and rescue operation in Doolin. I will be meeting with volunteers, I want to hear what is happening on the ground and to hear their concerns.

“The objective I have is to resolve this issue and ensure the service is up and running as quickly as possible.”

However, aggrieved former members have never met or been given the opportunity to voice their concerns with Minister Naughton.

The Irish Coast Guard still hasn’t recruited any new members in recent months for the reconstituted DCGU, apart from an interim team of seven members.

Back in 2016 the DCGU had up to 25 members who could participate in various climbing, land and boat operations.

In an interview with the Clare Champion this August, a spokesperson for the reconstituted team, which includes four coxswains, one crew and one trainee crew member, said they have responded to 37 emergency calls and several community events up to that date.

These calls have involved missing person searches with drone and land-based body recoveries, water-based rescues, helicopter operations and medical emergencies.

The spokesperson pointed out there are also eight sub team members in Inis Oirr who have search, first aid and heli-ops capabilities.

“The team is fully operational in land and drone search, boat operations and helicopter operations.

“We are not operational in climbing at present due to ongoing review by Coast Guard to update some equipment pertinent to the area we operate in and to avoid over burdening the commitment of the team members.

“To date there has not been a climbing element needed in any of the calls we have received and there are alternative arrangements in place should they be required.”

“There have been some developments in accessing the Cliffs of Moher, we now have access on the path south. Some restrictions are still in place north of O’Brien’s Tower, but we can still use the drone on this section of the cliffs.

“Ongoing work and meetings are taking place between Coast Guard and other stakeholders to keep people safe and to ensure there is rescue cover in the area.”

“Recruitment of new members is still ongoing but given the bad press we have received over the past six months this may have contributed to putting off some potential volunteers,” the spokesperson explained.

Asked what measures have the national Coast Guard taken to resolve some or any of the issues outlined in the Mulvey Report concerning the DCGU, the spokesperson replied all issues raised in the Mulvey report have been looked at by Irish Coast Guard management and discussed with members of the team.

The spokesperson added work on implementing the Mulvey report is still ongoing.