Staff at the Irish Coast Guard's control centre in Dublin have launched a petition to halt its closure under the Government's decentralisation programme.
The petition, appealing to the Minister to retain the Dublin base for the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC), is being circulated within fishing communities, the lifeboat network, members of sailing clubs and individuals serving the Naval Service and Air Corps.
The petition states that it is "unwise and unsafe" to close MRCC in Dublin.
It refers to the local knowledge built up by Dublin Coast Guard staff and says that geographical location is very important in management of the State's "first-class search and rescue co-ordination service".
Some 24 Irish Coast Guard staff and management are currently based at MRCC in Dublin, as part of a control network which includes Valentia, Co Kerry, and Malin, Co Donegal.
Last year, the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, confirmed that he intended to close Dublin and transfer its functions, and its 18 operational staff, to Valentia and Malin as part of a rationalisation advised by consultants.
Earlier in May the Minister also said that senior Irish Coast Guard management would be transferred from Dublin to Drogheda, in his Co Louth constituency, as part of a new Coast Guard and Maritime Safety Agency.
The Deloitte and Touche 2002 review of the Irish Coast Guard carried out for Government had recommended merging three Coast Guard radio stations into two, and establishing the Irish Coast Guard itself as an agency independent of the Department of the Marine, but had advised against combining the Coast Guard with the new Maritime Safety Directorate.
The MRCC at Dublin was established as one of the recommendations of a Government safety review in 1990, given the density of activity on the Irish Sea coastline.
Previously, the MRCC had been run by the Naval Service in Haulbowline, Co Cork, and then by air traffic controllers at Shannon airport.
Mr Ahern said his officials chose Drogheda "because of its proximity to Dublin and other ports where 95 per cent of maritime passenger traffic and half of all cargo emanates".
In a separate development, the submission date for views on the new legislation on compulsory life-jackets use has closed, in advance of implementation before the June bank holiday weekend.
The Department of the Marine has said that the legislation will cover all craft up to seven metres or 23 feet in length - although the actual regulations on its website refer to "non-mechanically propelled craft" only of this size.
