A very successful clothes collection was had for the Philippines in the Coast
Guard station last Saturday. Sincere thanks to members of the public who gave generously. The clothes will be leaving Ireland this weekend bound for Ajuy in the Philippines.

A big thanks the Civil Defence in Meath who came down with both clothes and cash donations. While it was suspected they were offloading unwanted GAA jerseys we were delighted with the baby clothes they collected. Well done!

The area of Ajuy, Iloilo in the Philippines was one of the many towns in the Philippines that suffered from the recent typhoon. Lives were lost; for the villagers that survived most only have the clothes on their back to keep them going.

The Irish Coast Guard unit in Howth hopes to play a very small part in helping a local lady from the Philippines get essential items to those in need. We will be opening the Coast Guard station on the West Pier on Saturday 23rd of November from 12pm to 2pm to take in donations to send to the area of Ajuy.

So what do they need…. the climate is very warm so its light clothes first of all for kids then adults… shorts, t-shirts etc. After that it’s light bed linen and towels. This is very much a small locally organised collection with limited resources so if you can assist by rolling items tightly into a bag we can get all the more into the courier boxes. Each box can take 6 large bags regardless of weight.

Your help is very much appreciated!

This weekend a safety campaign was launched out of Howth to encourage shore anglers to wear life jackets while fishing from the shore, this sadly follows a recent tragedy in Howth and indeed many others around the country. The campaign was carried out with the assistance of Marine Suppliers from Howth who provided sample safety equipment to the Coast Guard for anglers to try out and offered generous discounts for those visiting the shop on the day to purchase a lifejacket.

Coast Guard members from Howth visited regular angling locations along the coastline from Clontarf to Howth to Malahide with the demonstration life jackets and spoke to anglers. Wearing an automatic lifejacket can mean if an angler falls into the water and is unconscious the lifejacket will operate and maintain the angler afloat until assistance arrives. Modern lifejackets are extremely compact meaning they can be comfortably worn while still fishing. Anglers were also encouraged to keep existing lifejackets well maintained and avail of the lifejacket review and advice service provided by the RNLI lifejacket safety teams at open days and exhibitions.

On Saturday 9th a kite surfer was noted to be in difficulty off Dollymount Beach. Dun Laoghaire inshore lifeboat along with a passing RNLI lifeboat bound for Northern Ireland responded to search the water.

The surfer reached the shore successfully and was ascertained to be ok by the lifeboat crew. A Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance and a Coast Guard unit from Howth travelled to the shoreline and met the surfer at the beach, the paramedics were satisifed no further immediate care was needed.

A successful outcome but its a reminder to the public to make that call to the Coast Guard on 112/999 if they see someone who maybe in difficulty at the water/ beach/ cliffs.

Incident 61/13

Howth Coast Guard were tasked on Wednesday at 12.00 to prepare the landing site at Beaumont hospital for an urgent medivac which was en route from Galway. Coast Guard volunteers assembled quickly and went to the landing site. The area was checked and prepared for the imminent arrival. Rescue 115, which is based at Shannon, landed at 12.50 and the critically ill patient was transferred to the A&E with the assistance of the Coast Guard unit. The unit was stood down at 13.30.

Incident 60/13

Howth Coast Guard were tasked last night at 18.50 to check a report of two red flares seen over Howth harbour. The area was checked by a search unit of the team with nothing to report. The unit was stood down at 19.30.

Incident 59/13