THE GLEN of Imaal Mountain Rescue Service took a step to realising its goal of having its own home with the turning of the sod yesterday on their building project. Up to now the rescue team had no building in which to store equipment or hold meetings.
A €140,000 grant received from Wicklow Rural Partnership in late 2009 has paved the way for the service to proceed with the first phase of its €400,000 centre just outside Laragh in southeast Wicklow.
Building work is expected to start in the next couple of weeks with the first phase scheduled for completion by September.
The Garda, the Irish Red Cross, hillwalkers, politicians and others were represented at the turning of the sod.
The Glen of Imaal team was formed in 1983 by local people and has been involved in an estimated 1,200 call-outs over the 25 years or an average of one a week.
The latest rescue was after a woman suffered a leg injury near the top of Glenmacnass waterfall. The waterfall is a popular tourist viewpoint on the road from Laragh to the Sally Gap.
The ambulance service was unable to bring to the woman safety. The mountain rescue service was alerted, the woman was secured on to the crag stretcher and brought back up to the roadside, from where the ambulance was able to take her to hospital for treatment.
Hugh McLindon, PRO of the rescue service, said it had been busier than usual during the winter snow and frosty weather. “We had 62 call-outs in 2009 but already in the first three months of this year, we have had 17 rescue calls,” he said.