Press release

30 December 2009

Today Minister Noel Dempsey highlighted the hundreds of emergency and essential service workers who will be working during the Christmas holiday period. He said: "Staff of the Coast Guard working at the marine emergency coordination centres in Dublin, Malin Head and on Valentia Island will be ready to take calls. They will also listen out for distress calls on the global maritime distress safety system  and on 999/112 . They are there to help and to respond, to dispatch and coordinate the response to emergency calls when people get into difficulty."

The Minister continued: "If you are planning some outdoor leisure activities over the Christmas holiday period, make sure to check the weather forecast before going out. Days are short, water and air temperatures are low, weather conditions can be bad and there may be ice and fog about. All these things, along with the capability to alert the rescue services if things go wrong, must be taken into account."

Director of the Irish Coast Guard Chris Reynolds said: " Advice from the Coast Guard for parents is to please keep a sharp eye on your children. During winter, rivers are swollen with floodwater and never, ever, allow them to go out on ice that forms on water.  There will be a period of very high Spring Tides approaching Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) over the holiday period during the first week of January 2010 but commencing 31 December 2009 until 6 January 2010.  This will effect where and when you can normally go fishing or swimming as tides will be higher and currents stronger than normal so please be careful".

Search and Rescue Units  of the Coast Guard, RNLI and Community Rescue Boats of Ireland will be on-call and ready to respond throughout the entire holiday period; just as they are at all other times during the year. That's 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

The Minister concluded: "Remember, if you do see someone in difficulty at sea, on the cliffs or rivers or lakes of Ireland, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the COAST GUARD."

ENDS