The Taoiseach has been asked to go and see for himself the "disgracefully inadequate conditions" under which one of the country's busiest coast guard units has to operate, when he travels to Clare this week.
Doolin Coast Guard is based in a 150-year-old building adjacent to Doolin pier that is prone to flooding and has no toilets, showers or changing facilities for the 25-strong volunteer team. The building is not capable of storing the unit's boats and there is no facility for treating injured people or laying out dead bodies.
Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has now called on the Taoiseach to visit the Doolin Coast Guard unit during his trip to north Clare, saying the contribution of the rescue centre personnel to the area should be recognised. Bertie Ahern will be in Clare on Thursday to officially open the new €31.5 million Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience.
Mr Breen said: "With the project to build a permanent station house for the coast guard entering its fourth year, it is time for Bertie Ahern to see for himself the disgracefully inadequate conditions these people operate under and the tremendous efforts they make in fulfilling their role. Not a month goes by without some tragedy necessitating a call- out of the unit, which is often operating in treacherous waters and very rough weather."
He said that he'd been raising this matter continuously with the Minister for Transport since 2004 and only in the last few months had the coast guard management been told to consider alternative locations. "It is not good enough that after all this time the ball should be put back in the coast guard unit's court."
A spokesman for the volunteers of the Doolin unit, Kevin Nunan, said that "in light of the imminent opening of a state-of- the-art visitor facility at the Cliffs of Moher, surely this could be matched by a state-of-the-art rescue centre at Doolin.
"The recent tragic events at the Cliffs of Moher and two emergency calls over the weekend once again serve to highlight the completely inadequate facilities that are made available to the members of the local coast guard unit.
"Casualties are often treated in this building that is totally unsuitable for the needs of a modern- day rescue unit. As a result much of their equipment is stored in a variety of locations."