Closure threat to NI coastguard centre
PUBLIC spending cuts to the coastguard rescue service – which could see the closure of Northern Ireland's only command centre in Bangor – have been described as "disgusting" by the mother of a teenage drowning victim.
It is feared there will be major cuts to the UK's 19 centres, which coordinate and manage rescue efforts across Britain, as part of government cutbacks.
Margaret Elliott, whose son James died after trying to save his dog from the swollen River Bush in Co Antrim last year, said any cutbacks to the coastguard service could put more lives at risk.
"We all know that money needs to be saved, but never under any circumstances should we be undermining a service which saves lives on an almost daily basis here – it is totally unacceptable," she said.
"It is absolutely disgusting and I just do not have the words to express how angry I am about this."
The Stranocum mother, who became a member of the community rescue service along with her daughter Sara after the tragedy, recalled how the coastguard rescuers had fought to save her son's life.
"I will never forget that image, of one of the coastguard rescuers dangling on a rope from a helicopter looking for James in the river.
"The coastguard is a service which most people will never need, but when there is an emergency they save lives and I personally can never thank them enough for what they did for James.
"We simply cannot allow this essential service to be threatened in any way. Saving money should never be a factor when it comes to saving lives," Mrs Elliott told the News Letter.
Northern Ireland's headquarters in Bangor run operations from Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough and has dealt with more than 700 incidents so far this year.
As further details are due to be released this week about the impact of the Spending Review, the coalition government is expected to announce a reduction in the number of coastguard control centres, arguing that as well as saving money, the move will modernise the service.
Yesterday, the News Letter spoke to a member of the NI Coastguard who revealed that staff had received an email confirming that proposed cutbacks were expected to be announced soon.
"There is no question that there will be cutbacks, and we know that some centres could be closed so Bangor is certainly under threat," said the member of staff who is also a member of the Public and Commercial Services Union.
"The coastguard here in Northern Ireland is already over-stretched, and we firmly believe that the closure of our centre in Bangor will have a serious and detrimental effect on our ability to respond to emergencies here.
"If Bangor were to close, that would mean that someone in Scotland or England will be co-ordinating the rescue, and that could pose serious problems, especially with local dialects and local knowledge of the area.
"We have not been given any indication which centres will close, it could be us, we just don't know, but any closures and cutbacks can only damage what is an essential service."
A spokesman for the HM Coastguard in Northern Ireland said it has received no official word of any closures and could not comment until an announcement is made.
It has been reported that a government source has confirmed that the sale of the search and rescue service to a foreign consortium will be given the go-ahead.
The previous government proposed that private companies should take over the running of search and rescue helicopters from the RAF and that the Sea King fleet – in which Prince William has been learning to fly – should be scrapped.
This service is currently provided by the RAF and Royal Navy, plus civilian helicopters through the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA].
In February, it was announced that the 24-hour service would be run by private consortium Soteria from 2012, from 12 bases across the UK.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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