THE Commissioners of Irish Lights intend to automate Ireland's oldest lighthouse, Hook Point in Wexford, at the end of the month, in spite of a campaign opposing the move.
The local lobby has called for maintenance of a "human watch" in the interests of safety and drugs surveillance.
Irish Lights was not empowered to set up a coastwatch under existing legislation, spokesman Capt Shay Hickey said yesterday, responding to the campaign's demands.
"We would be delighted to do so if we got a request from Government, of course, and we still have a core of lightkeepers around who could staff such a service.
The 13th century beacon at Hook Point is one of the last "manned" lights on the coastline. Once automated, it will leave only Baily on Howth Head, Dublin, with a full keeper staff.
The campaign organisers held a walk earlier this month from Slade, Co Wexford, to Hook Point to demonstrate their opposition to the demanning. "Our reasons are very simple," they said in a statement.
"Hook lightkeepers watch shipping entering and leaving Waterford harbour, one of our busiest stretches of water. Fishing fleets from Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay, Fethard on Sea and Slade work off the Hook, not to mention the ever increasing body of sailors, canoeists and divers.
"Hook lightkeepers are a 24 hour watch, aiding navigation and safety at sea," the campaigners said.
In 1994, 40 per cent of Dunmore East Lifeboat call outs came from the keeper on duty there. "When we lose them, as we have on the remainder of the south, west and north coasts, there could be an increase in lives lost, with the added risk of drug trafficking at sea."
Canada, Germany and the Baltic states are "actively remanning" their lighthouses. Ireland should learn from this, they claimed. But Irish Lights has said it has no evidence that this is taking place. In Britain, voluntary coastwatch groups have taken over coastguard stations due to the rationalisation of that service Capt Hickey said.
Irish Lights has also rejected a claim that maintenance of automated facilities is proving more expensive than the cost of "human watchers". "We had a lot of technical trouble in the early years, when we began the automation programme. However, the savings in the last couple of years on foot of new technology have been very significant", Capt Hickey said.
The outgoing principal keeper at Hook Point, Mr "Tucks" Tweedy, said the protest was "too little, too late", and did not address the cost of maintaining a lighthouse. "A lot of people did not actually believe that demanning was going to take place when it was set in train 10 years ago," Mr Tweedy told The Irish Times. "That was the time to start protesting."
The human presence had most certainly deterred illegal imports of drugs, Mr Tweedy claimed. "It is significant that we have only become the backdoor to Europe for drug trafficking in the last few years, because that presence is no longer there."
Plans have already been announced for a visitors centre at Hook Point next year.
