Mayo Coast Guard base hosts historic council meeting

WESTPORT Coast Guard's team of volunteers were hailed for their life-saving work as their new headquarters hosted a Westport-Belmullet Municipal District meeting.

Members were heading to Silver Strand on thankfully non-urgent business as councillors and officials were welcomed by officer-in-charge Noel Brett for a historic first meeting at the base, at Westport Quay, which was officially opened earlier this year.

Westport Coast Guard has a team of 27 volunteers from all walks of life who respond to calls at sea along the west coast and also inland. They are the only unit in the country who can put out a fully female qualified boat rescue team.

Mayo County Council donated the site for their new base, from where they work closely with other agencies, including the gardaí, RNLI, fire service, Mayo Mountain Rescue, lifeguards, among others. Their work on water is well known but half of all calls are inland, from missing persons to medical emergencies, and their work varies from assisting meals on wheels deliveries during bad frost to delivering water safety education for children.

A floating pontoon supported by the council has cut launch times by 16 minutes.

Another example of positive partnership with the local authority saw the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in 11 houses on the small islands in Clew Bay this summer in conjunction with the fire service.

Mr. Brett thanked the council and communities for their support of the unit in Westport and also the Coast Guard in Achill and Ballyglass, as well as the employers who allow volunteers to leave their jobs without being penalised to save lives.

Cathaoirleach Councillor Brendan Mulroy led compliments to the team on the service they provide, with other agencies, resulting in many families still having loved ones around.

Generations of families have given service to the Coast Guard, Councillor Sean Carey noted in his own area of north Mayo, where the Ballyglass unit are searching for a new permanent home. Their building is a bit outdated and he hopes it will come to fruition too.

An issue with a bridge that rescue teams have to pass while on missions on Croagh Patrick was raised by Councillor Chris Maxwell, who asked for repairs to be prioritised.

He didn't want a situation where an ambulance is on the side of Croagh Patrick and when it comes down to the bridge it has collapsed.

He was told it was raised with the bridge engineer in August and it will be followed up.

There was a reminder from Councillor Peter Flynn that people need to take into account their own actions and responsibilities when going out to sea or on the mountains.

He also asked about dredging the harbour in Westport, which is impacting on different aspects and particularly the emergency services.

Mr. Brett said it is slowly silting up. The harbour authority had its own dredger in the past and the site they were on was infill that was dredged from the harbour.

Any action to dredge the channel would be welcome, subject to the necessary consents. It would allow bigger sailing boats in and more tourism, and make the harbour usable 24/7.

There are restrictions at the moment and at certain times they cannot launch because of low water.

People need to think about how dredging has changed, such as vacuuming, and there are different ways of doing it which are less environmentally damaging.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme