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Swilly rescue highlights need for Malin Head CG 06.03.08

THE rescue of seven fishermen in Lough Swilly co-ordinated by Malin Head Coast Guard thrust the centre's threatened closure onto the primetime news.
Just hours after the successful rescue mission, Inishowen Development Partnership members Andrew Ward and Seamus Bovaird told RTE's Six One news "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
Their words were echoed yesterday by Donegal North East T.D., Deputy Joe McHugh who praised the professionalism, skill and immense local knowledge of the team at Malin Head Coast Guard. They co-ordinated the mammoth mission and tasked a number of rescue services including the search and rescue Sikorsky helicopter from Sligo, two Lough Swilly RNLI crews, the Mulroy Cliff and Coast Rescue The 50ft crabbing boat Horizon stuck on rocks in Lough Swilly.
team and ambulance personnel.
The men were airlifted to safety, flown to Derry and taken to Altnagelvin for observation. All seven were discharged from hospital a number of hours later.
"The rescue mission clearly shows the importance and the reliability of Malin Head Coast Guard Station which is under threat of closure by the Department of Transport and the Marine," said Deputy McHugh.
“Seven lives were saved in a mission co-ordinated by the workers in Malin Head Coast Guard station. The question I want answered is, would it have been more efficient if it had been co-ordinated from Drogheda or Shannon?"
Deputy McHugh said the Malin Head rescue centre offered the best chance for mariners and others to survive in a May Day situation.
“The viability of the Coast Guard station is under threat because the Minister is intent on re-locating the stations. Tuesday's rescue shows that the Minister’s 'safety argument’ is highly unreliable. The local knowledge provided by the RNLI and the workers at the station offer the North West the best in maritime safety.
“Minister Dempsey’s empty rhetoric is looking less and less credible as each day passes. This latest rescue proves that the Minister is wrong about the efficiency of the Malin Head station and I want to put this point to him and his staff in the Department of Transport and the Marine.”
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