Coastguard and Lifeboats
The Republic’s waters run two hundred miles out into the North Atlantic. The Dingle Coastguard watches all of them, and the volunteer lifeboat crews go out into them when it matters.
If someone is in trouble at sea or on the coast, call 151 and ask for the coastguard.
At a glance
- Territorial sea
- 12 miles (Article 2)
- Waters
- 200 miles (Article 2)
- Responsible minister
- Carlos Knight MHP, Secretary for the Island
- Lifeboat crews
- Volunteers, every one
Dingle sits at roughly 53°N, 30°W, almost exactly halfway between Ireland and Canada, close to the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The sea around the island is deep, busy and, in winter, dangerous.
What we do
Search and rescue
The coastguard coordinates every search and rescue in Dingle’s waters, from fishing boats in difficulty to walkers cut off by the tide.
The fishing fleet
Fish are the one thing the island can feed itself with, including species living around the hydrothermal vents that are found nowhere else on earth. The coastguard keeps watch over the fleet that catches them.
Winter weather
North Atlantic winter routinely closes the ferries and the airport, sometimes for days. The coastguard issues the island’s marine warnings and decides, with the ports, when it is safe to sail.
The lifeboats
The island’s lifeboats are crewed by volunteers who leave their jobs and their beds when the pager goes. Employers are expected to let them go, and do.
Fuel
Shipping is one of the few exemptions from the ban on fossil fuels under the Twenty-second Amendment. The coastguard’s own fleet is moving to electric and hydrogen power as the technology allows.
Page last reviewed: 29 October 2029