It sometimes falls to unspoken heroes to provide a vital service. The personnel who man the Valentia Radio service more than adequately fulfill that role.
Valentia Island, in Co Kerry, is the most south westerly Atlantic coastal watch area in the State. Recently, the vital lifeboat station located there received a new Severn-class vessel valued at £1.5 million. It replaced the old Arun-class lifeboat which had given sterling duty along this particular part of the Irish coastline.
The former Taoiseach, Mr Haughey, knew the perils of the waters of the south west coast when his pleasure craft foundered off Mizen Head some years ago. The sailors who perished in the ill-fated Fastnet race in the 1970s learned to their cost about the dangers off-shore when a deep depression whipped the seas into a fury.
The south west coast is a particularly difficult one. It has known its share of tragedies over the years. One thinks of the Betelgeuse tanker disaster at Bantry in the late 1970s; the Kowloon Bridge iron ore carrier which ran aground off the Stagg Rocks in west Cork; the various trawler tragedies over the years; the Bere Island ferry disaster, and many more incidents. None of these disasters occurred without Valentia Radio playing a major part in the attempt to get help when it was most needed. The radio service's answering call has been a balm to troubled mariners since its inception in 1912.
This year, unseasonal weather and the dramatic increase in leisure pursuits at sea has given Valentia Radio more than a normal workload. Normally, 500 to 600 emergency responses are made in a year. Yet so far this year, the figure is already approaching 400. The radio service is heading for a record number of assistance calls. The service is staffed by 15 who provide 24-hour cover each day of the year. Often, says Mr Gene Sullivan, divisional controller at Valentia, mariners in difficulty or even in desperate situations, are less than appreciative when the calm voice of the Valentia controller asks questions that seem less than relevant at the moment of crisis.
Questions such as the vessel's call sign, the number of life jackets on board, the number of passengers and their condition. Establishing such information early on in a rescue attempt, Mr Sullivan adds, can be vital to the outcome.
In 1912, the year the Titanic went down, a coast watch service was established at Crookhaven in west Cork under the auspices of the British Post Office. At the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the Royal Navy assumed control of the service which moved to Valentia Island. It was sited on the northern side of the island looking out on Dingle Bay with the Blasket Islands to the north west. Both Malin Head and Valentia radio stations were mentioned in the 1922 Treaty. At the time, Valentia was the busiest station in these islands and of considerable strategic importance. To the British, says Mr Sullivan, the radio service was as important as the Irish ports.
In 1952, the Irish Post Office took over the service and there has been a steady expansion since.
1983 saw a significant extension to the premises in which the service operates as well as the introduction of VHF equipment. The station covers an area from Malin Head in the north to Mizen Head in the south west.
In 1993, Valentia Radio became part of the Irish Marine Emergency Service, with responsibility for safety at sea, pollution, and public awareness of safety factors. The island station has a liaison agreement with the lifeboat services around the coast as well as with some 52 coastal and cliff rescue units on the Irish coastline.
These facilities, which play an important part in the ability to respond to situations as they arise, are staffed by volunteers. It is obvious, then, that the professional and voluntary effort involved in marine and coastal rescue is of immense significance to those who have already or who may yet benefit from their assistance. So why would anyone abuse them?
That is a question with which Mr Sullivan has grappled for some time. Enormous effort goes into co-ordinating radio, lifeboat and helicopter personnel to bring people safely ashore. It is hardly credible that certain types of individuals, whose reasoning is difficult to fathom, like to play jokes on services such as Valentia Radio, and in doing so, waste valuable and often critical time.
In the newspaper industry this time of year is often referred to as the "silly season". It's the summer lull when very little is happening. Newsmakers are on holiday, the Dail is not sitting - stories that would have to fight for a place in the paper during the busier months are more than welcome. Valentia Radio, too, has its "silly season". This one, though, is somewhat more sinister.
Hoax calls, Mr Sullivan said, are becoming a problem around the coast. An example is the idiot off the south west whose repeated "Mayday, Mayday" calls put the radio service at Valentia on full alert. In response, the Valentia operator made an urgent broadcast to all relevant contacts. He explored every means possible to establish the urgency of the case, what help was needed and how best aid could be got to the person or persons in difficulty. Almost two hours later, the operator realised he had been the victim of a hoax.
Drunks, fools and those whose sense of fun, such as it is, like to mess with the rescue services, are diverting much needed resources on needless paper chases, when, especially at this time of year, they are sorely needed. There are also "fun lovers" who like to send up emergency red flares to get the attention of the lifeboats which will always respond when one is reported or seen.
The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat in west Cork did just that last year but no trace could be found of the boat supposedly in distress. The point here was that the seas were particularly rough at the time - so rough, in fact, that the lifeboat could not return to its station. Its crew was forced to remain at sea all night. That is a particular and very definite form of vandalism, Mr Sullivan says.
He adds that no genuine mariner or pleasure sailor would ever so abuse the rescue services - and that's why, like the newspapers he has to contend with his own "silly season".
Mr Sullivan complains that the law governing such imbecilic behaviour has not changed since the last century. If the guilty party is caught - and that is hard to do when someone makes a quick foray off-shore, fires a flare, and returns to dry land to see how the handiwork is going - he might face a fine of no more than £20.
When the Sikorsky rescue helicopter based in Shannon takes off, its movement is immediately routed through Valentia Radio. Following that, at 15-minute intervals, its position is reported. The integrated approach has saved numerous lives over the years. This makes it all the more difficult to comprehend the mindset of individuals who would take the trouble, purposefully, to lead the radio operators or the gallant lifeboat men and others, on a wild goose chase.
Mr Sullivan seems to have a good point when he says the law needs changing.
Valentia Radio has the capacity to generate revenue by connecting ships at sea to land lines and by reporting messages regarding fish landings on foreign trawlers to centres in London, Madrid and France, as well as to the Irish Naval Service.
Discussions are now underway which are expected to lead to both the Malin Head and Valentia radio stations becoming subcentres of the Marine Rescue Service.
This will create an enhanced service with an even faster response time. Not well-known is the fact that services like Valentia Radio also co-ordinate the community in-shore small-boat rescue operations. This is the scheme under which local communities in areas like Waterford; Tralee; Kilkee, Co Clare; and others are purchasing small, light and fast vessels to be a part of the initial response by local communities.
Mr Sullivan says much of the rescue efforts off the south west coast could be improved if, on leaving port, sailors and others reported their departure time, destination, and their expected arrival time to the authorities. Amazingly, seasoned seafarers often fail to do this, leading to confusion and wasted time on the part of his staff while radio operators try to establish the movements of a particular craft. His plea to mariners is: Announce your departure time, potential stops en route, changes of direction and your safe return to port.
Valentia Radio has given undeniable service. It has played an under-reported role in such situations as the Air India disaster of June 1985 off the south west coast when one of its operators was the first to hear from a passing vessel that bodies were everywhere in the water.
Bodies were later brought ashore to the mortuary of the Cork University Hospital. Incredibly, at the subsequent inquest into the appalling loss of life - caused by a terrorist bomb - it was disclosed that one passenger had died from drowning. The person involved had fallen from the shattered aircraft - probably unconscious - but was still alive when she hit the water. In her comatose state, she had drowned. Valentia Radio initiated the calls to the rescue services.