In a climate of uncertainty over the co-ordination of Irish marine rescues, Coast Guard staff are being moved temporarily to Valentia, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent.
The Irish Coast Guard's central rescue co-ordination centre has been transferred temporarily from Dublin to Valentia, Co Kerry, because of the discovery of asbestos in its premises at Leeson Lane.
Any marine emergencies on the Irish Sea over the next month will be handled by Valentia Coast Guard while work is carried out at the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre's premises in Leeson Lane.
Back-up will also be given by the Malin Head Coast Guard station in Donegal.
Staff from the Dublin centre have also been transferred to Valentia and Malin.
The development takes place against a background of uncertainty over the future of the Irish Coast Guard network, following publication of a second consultancy study that recommended rationalisation within the three control centres.
The study by Deloitte & Touche, published late last year,recommended that Irish Coast Guard control centres at Dublin, Valentia and Malin be cut from three to two.
Four years ago, a previous consultants' study caused a row when it said only one of the three radio stations at Valentia, Malin and Dublin was required because of technological improvements.
The then marine minister, Dr Michael Woods, issued a statement in March 1999, saying that no proposal had been put to him for amalgamating the three stations.
Subsequently, Malin and Valentia were upgraded from Coast Guard radio stations to marine rescue sub-centres.
The more recent review says it is "technologically possible" to run the Coast Guard from two centres.
It also says that significant cost savings could be achieved by this move. It notes that the Irish Coast Guard provides an "excellent service" in its core functions.
Mr Mick McGarry, divisional controller at Malin Head Coast Guard, said the review's publication had led to uncertainty among staff.
"We would like to see a decision made, once and for all." Malin employs 16 staff, including Mr McGarry, many of whom have moved families from elsewhere to the Inishowen peninsula. The north Donegal region has one of the State's highest unemployment rates, at 17 per cent.
Both Valentia and Malin Coast Guard radio stations predate the Dublin-based centre by almost a century. The Malin Head station was set up to replace the Lloyd's semaphore tower on the headland, and both it and Valentia have handled some of the most serious emergencies in the Irish search-and- rescue zone in recent decades.
The stations' staff have developed a core of local knowledge. Mr McGarry, for instance, knows every bay and inlet between Malin Head and Clifden, Co Galway.
The Irish Coast Guard, formerly the Irish Marine Emergency Service, is run by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and is responsible for search and rescue offshore and on inland waterways.
It is also responsible for pollution control, salvage and protection of the marine environment to 200 miles, and has 52 units at strategic locations, working with agencies such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Air Corps and Naval Service, and with the Garda Síochána.