Marine rescue volunteers braced themselves yesterday as storm force winds pounded the west and south-west coasts.
The 4,300 voluntary lifeboat men and women attached to 223 stations around the Irish and British coasts will be on 24-hour call, free of charge, throughout the extended holiday period.
Coast and cliff rescue units attached to the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES) will also give their time while public service pay agreements for the period will apply to the staff employed at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources in Dublin.
Coast radio station staff at Malin Head, Co Donegal, and Valentia, Co Kerry, will also be on duty, while helicopter crews have been rostered for the IMES air/sea rescue stations at Shannon and Dublin and the Air Corps stations at Finner, Co Donegal, and Waterford.
Two Naval Service ships will be on patrol from December 27th over the new year period.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) estimates that there have been 100 launches on average each Christmas holiday for the past five years around
these islands with an average 20 lives saved each time.
Last year, for instance, there were 131 launches by the voluntary crews, and 31 lives were saved during Christmas. Another four people were landed and 30 people were brought ashore. The number of lives saved in 1998 was 212, while 147 people were landed and 508 people were brought ashore.
"People landed" applies to those at risk who were assisted, while "people brought in" applies when, in RNLI opinion, those rescued were not at risk but were taken ashore before the situation deteriorated.
Over the past five years, the RNLI has committed itself to a programme of sea safety education.
