Shortly before 1am this morning (Wed 29th) the Irish Coast Guard 112 operations centre received a 112 call reporting someone in the water on Clontarf Seafront at Castle Avenue and requiring immediate assistance.

The Irish Coast Guard unit from Howth along with Dublin Fire Brigade were requested to respond by Coast Guard operations. Local Coast Guard units, Fire Brigade personnel from North Strand and Gardai were on scene within minutes and began a search of the area. A member of the public was taken to hospital by Fire Brigade Paramedics.

                                                                                         Incident 06/14

This afternoon (Sunday 26th) the Irish Coast Guard operations centre received an urgent message from a fishing vessel in Dublin bay, a male member of the crew had fallen down in the storage area below deck and was unconscious.

The Coast Guard Helicopter “Rescue 116” was dispatched and in difficult weather conditions got the winchman paramedic on board. The paramedic managed to stabilise the patient, due to the sea state and the location of casualty it was considered the safest option for the trawler to head to shore, with the Coast Guard paramedic remaining on board, and the casualty be extracted with extra assistance from shore.

The Irish Coast Guard Rescue team from Howth, a Dublin Fire Brigade unit from Kilbarack and a HSE ambulance from Swords were tasked to attend the West Pier in Howth. Between the multiple agencies the casualty, who was now conscious, was successfully extracted by stretcher through narrow hatches to the deck and onto the pier. From there he was transported by ambulance to Beaumont hospital.

Incident 05/14

On Thursday (24th Jan) evening the Irish Coast Guard operations centre received a
request for assistance from Gardai in searching for a person who had sought
assistance on the Howth Cliff path. The Coast Guard unit from Howth was
mobilised and 4 teams began searching the area. An hour later Gardai confirmed
that the call was a hoax. All teams were stood down.

Shortly before 3pm today (Monday 6th) the Irish Coast Guard Control Centre was alerted of somebody being knocked over by a wave on Howth’s upper East Pier. The Irish Coast Guard Rescue Team from Howth, Howth RNLI lifeboat, Dublin Fire Brigade, HSE Paramedics and Gardai responded.

A male had got knocked from the upper pier to the lower pier, a drop of 10 foot, while he was out walking. He sustained an ankle injury and was treated by paramedics on scene. Due to the continuing waves that were breaking and in the interest of safety of the casualty and emergency service personnel he was evacuated to the Howth inshore lifeboat and transported the short distance across the harbour  to the Howth Lifeboat station where an ambulance was waiting to bring him to hospital.

The Coast Guard make a further appeal to the public to refrain visiting piers, seafronts and cliffs until the current storm and high tides have passed. Importantly if the public see someone who is likely to get into danger call 112/999 and ask for the Coast Guard.

Photo Credit: Adam Scott

Incident 03/14

Members of the public are putting themselves in danger as they stand on seafronts and harbour walls in Clontarf and Howth watching the waves breaking. This is not recommended and the Irish Coast Guard advice is to stay away from coastal areas like Harbour Walls and Seafronts during storms and high tides. What is perceived as a viewing point can quickly turn into an area flooded with very fast moving water taking people back into the sea. If the public consider someone maybe likely to get into danger we encourage them to call 112/999 and ask for the Coast Guard.

The next high tide of concern is Friday at 12.30pm and the Coast Guard in Howth are working closely with other agencies to monitor the situation. For further information on flooding visit www.flooding.ie. Photos below, credit to the Irish Times and The Journal (Brian Lawless/PA Wire).

With high tides alerts in Dublin an Irish Coast Guard patrol from Howth was monitoring the high water levels in Clontarf. The patrol was then diverted to an incident in Howth Harbour where reports were received by the Coast Guard control room of a person suspected of being washed off the West Pier into the sea.

A full team call out of the Howth unit was requested along with Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 116 and Howth RNLI lifeboats; a unit of Dublin Civil Defence also assisted in the search.

Following an extensive search and updated information from a witness the search was stood down. Conditions were a south easterly force 8 wind, It is not recommended to walk along exposed areas of the coast line including harbour walls with breaking waves in these conditions. This puts unnecessary risk to the members of the emergency services responding.

Incident 01/14

Later the Coast Guard patrol assisted Gardai with concern for a member of the public on Clontarf Seafront. 

Incident 02/14