Staff at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin have issued an "SOS" over the proposed closure of the Irish Coast Guard unit in the capital.
The Dublin-based search and rescue co-ordinators have said they are "incensed" at the move, which will involve reducing the existing three Irish Coast Guard communication centres to two, and transferring Dublin's staff to the stations at Valentia, Co Kerry, and Malin, Co Donegal.
A decision on the merger has already been taken in principle at Cabinet level, and the Irish Coast Guard is also to be merged with the new Maritime Safety Directorate into one agency. It is understood that both decisions were taken by the Minister for the Marine, Mr Dermot Ahern, against the wishes of senior Irish Coast Guard personnel.
A statement issued yesterday claiming to be signed by "all" of the co-ordinators, says that Dublin has handled 44 per cent of all emergency incidents so far this year. Some 17 qualified radio officers, who are designated search and rescue co-ordinators, are based in Dublin and will be directly affected by the move. They say that they and their families are not in a position to relocate to Kerry or Donegal.
The statement points out that Dublin is close to the busiest ferry corridor, and has the highest leisure boating population on the island. Over 20 million people cross the Irish Sea annually by sea and air, and MRCC staff cite August 2nd, when over 31,000 people sailed on east coast passenger ferries.
MRCC in Dublin is younger than the long-established stations at Valentia and Malin. It was set up 10 years ago as one of the recommendations of a Government review of search and rescue, which also recommended medium-range air/sea rescue cover on the west coast.
The search and rescue co-ordinators state that MRCC Dublin handled every marine emergency for the first seven years of its existence, while relying on Valentia and Malin for communications and local knowledge. When Valentia and Malin were upgraded to full coast guard stations with divisional controllers, this responsibility was shared among the three areas.
However, MRCC in Dublin handles all pollution and salvage incidents. Earlier this summer, MRCC in Dublin had to be closed temporarily and responsibility handed over to Valentia when asbestos was discovered in its premises at Leeson Lane.
The three stations are linked by phone. Reducing the cover to two stations may mean that the effectiveness of the system "is compromised to a potentially dangerous level", the statement says.
Mr Tom Hoare of Impact, which represents the radio officers, says that negotiations have just begun on the proposed merger, and the separate issue of establishing a new agency. The union is awaiting a policy document from the Maritime Safety Directorate (MSD) on the issues involved, he said.