This article is from page 11 of the 2014-08-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
THE people of Doolin have heralded the beginning of a new era following the opening of a new sea rescue centre in the village last week.
The € 1.8 million facility, which became operation last week but will not be officially opened for a number of months, has been the subject of intense local campaigning over the last 20 year.
Operator of Doolin Cave, John Browne, yesterday welcomed the new centre – describing the conditions in the old facility as “crazy”.
“It is such a necessary facility, the old situation that the coast guard was forced into was crazy – trying to get a boat down Fishers Street in an emergency,” he said.
“They [the coast guard volunteers] are such an important part of this community. It is important that they have the proper facilities to do their work.”
The new centre was also welcomed by Eugene Garrihy of Doolin2Aran Ferries.
“The facility is of huge importance to the work carried out by those brave men and women. In our ferries, it is a massive comfort to us to know that we have a back-up in the event that anything goes wrong,” he said.
“The coast guard have been waiting for this facility for some time now and any help that this could be for them and their work is very welcome. It brings to mind the great work that people like Mattie Shannon and Thomas Doherty have been doing for years, but also the men that came before them.”