The Coast Guard has temporarily suspended its cliff rescue teams nationwide.
The organisation informed volunteers of the decision yesterday evening and has said it is working to reinstate the teams “as quickly as possible”.
It is understood that the decision was made by the search and rescue organisation, which falls under the oversight of the Department of Transport, after a risk assessment was carried out.
It is believed there are around 17 cliff rescue teams in the Coast Guard across the country.
The suspension was made “for safety reasons” and “in order to “complete adjustments to various elements of the cliff rescue system,” it said in a statement . The statement added the move was in line with the coastguard “ safety management system”.
The spokesperson added: “The safety of Coast Guard crew and volunteers is paramount and the function will be resumed when it has been deemed safe to do so.”
One senior Coast Guard officer, who did not wish to be named, raised concerns around the withdrawal of cliff rescue services.
Officers had been asked to attend a virtual Zoom meeting at 5pm on Thursday, where they were informed of the change.
Some volunteers had been “furious” at the lack of consultation ahead of the decision, and had not been given details of the risk assessment justifying the move, the senior officer said.
The Coast Guard said that while cliff rescue operations are suspended, affected areas will be serviced by a combination of search and rescue helicopter teams and the existing Coast Guard Units.
The statement added that “about one incident a month” involves people falling on cliffs and that these are normally resolved by a combination of Coast Guard teams and search and rescue helicopters.
