The Irish Coast Guard's first inland waterways rescue unit has been sanctioned for Lough Derg, one of the Shannon river's busiest thoroughfares.
The unit at Killaloe on the Co Clare bank of the Shannon was declared as fully operational yesterday by the new director-designate of the Irish Coast Guard, Chris Reynolds.
Mr Reynolds, formerly a Naval Service lieutenant and diver, succeeds Capt Liam Kirwan, who established the ICG and retired over a year ago. Mr Reynolds had recently left the ICG to take up a senior emergency planning post with the Health Service Executive.
The Irish Coast Guard's area of responsibility was extended from offshore to inland some years ago. However, the level of "traffic and risk" is such on the southern reaches of the Shannon that it felt the need to establish a dedicated base on Lough Derg.
The most recent statistics (2004) show that 10,000 boats passed through Portumna bridge on the Galway border and 6,500 people used the lake regularly, while 3,500 cruisers were hired there last year.
It has 17 public marinas and two water leisure activity centres, while four ferry companies ply its waters.
A community rescue service, the Killaloe Ballina search and rescue, applied to the ICG in October 2005 to become its first inland unit. It had been founded in May 2001 to provide search- and-rescue cover. The volunteers were trained by the ICG last year, and their existing hard-hulled craft have been replaced with two ICG-approved inflatable boats designed for use on rivers and shallow lakes.
One of the two new craft, a 7.5 metre rigid inflatable boat (RIB), can make a speed of over 30 knots, can work in all weathers and can rescue up to nine people at a time. The team, headed by area officer Michael Quigley and deputy area officer Denis Dillon, is housed on the ESB site in Killaloe and has been equipped with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened its first inland station in the State on Lough Derg in May 2004 and has rescued well over 100 people and a number of dogs during call-outs.
Engine failure and adverse weather conditions are the most common reasons for taskings, according to the RNLI; just a fortnight ago, its lifeboat saved three people who had run adrift on a small speedboat at night with no fuel and no lights.