When you are one of the State's longest serving search and rescue experts, there is little that you are not prepared for. However, winch operator John Manning was caught by surprise yesterday when colleagues marked his retirement at high altitude in the Macgillycuddy Reeks.
The Irish Coast Guard winchman based at Waterford wasn't sure what was afoot when his Sikorsky helicopter touched down on The Saddle near the top of Carrauntoohil after lunchtime yesterday.
Out of the clouds there to greet him were his son, John (33), mountaineer Eileen Daly and members of the Kerry Mountain Rescue team who all wished him well on his retirement from an adventurous and dangerous career.
The plan had been to land the unsuspecting Dubliner on the summit of Carrauntoohil if weather conditions were right. However, due to a dense fog, it was decided to opt for the ladder en route to the summit instead.
The 55-year-old winchman, who finishes his last three shifts before retiring this week, had been transported to Kerry by the crew of the Waterford rescue helicopter.
"We'd just taken off . . . when I noticed the nav [navigation equipment] reading west," Mr Manning told The Irish Times, speaking from the Devil's Ladder.
"Ironically, I had only been trying to persuade my two lads to climb Carrauntoohil with me several weeks ago. After this, I will never trust anyone again!"
Colleagues who had endeavoured to keep the details from him said that all units, including Valentia and Malin, had co-operated in the ruse. The winch operator is one of the best known faces in Irish search and rescue, having started his career with the Air Corps 33 years ago. He was also team leader with the Dublin/Wicklow mountain rescue team.
One of his earliest and most challenging tasks involved the search off Whiddy island, Co Cork, when the French oil tanker Betelgeuse exploded at the island's terminal on January 8th, 1979, with the loss of 50 lives. He was with the Air Corps Alouette helicopter which was one of the first aircraft on scene.
Mr Manning helped set up the State's first medium-range helicopter rescue base at Shannon in 1991, and was one of the four Shannon helicopter operatives recognised at the State's first marine awards in 1999 for his role in the Belderrig cave rescue in north Mayo in October 1997.
A year later, he was one of several rescue personnel to participate in a round Ireland speed-record attempt to raise money for the family of Mayo diver, Michael Heffernan, who lost his life in the Belderrig rescue attempt.
Other notable tasks which he was involved with include the rescue of 17 Spanish and Portuguese crew on the Milford Eagle fishing vessel off the west coast in January, 2000, and the sole survivor among 13 crew on the Arosa which ran up on the Skerd rocks in Galway Bay in October, 2000.
