New Coast Guard Emergency 112 Signs on Howth Cliff Path

Fingal County Council together with the Irish Coast Guard’s Howth Unit and representatives from local community groups Howth Pathways and the Howth SAAO Committee launched the installation of emergency signage along the Lower Cliff Path Howth.

Fergus Cooney of the Irish Coast Guard’s Howth Unit commented that ‘in a number of recent incidents the new signage has enabled a quicker response time to reach and treat casualties’.

The new signage is located along the Lower Cliff Path from Balscadden car park to Redrock with locations identified according to the Irish Coast Guard’s mapping of incident ‘hotspots’. Each sign has a unique number to enable the Irish Coast Guard to locate causalities quickly when they call 112 and provide the location number.

Visitors to Howth who get into difficulty along the cliff path are often unfamiliar with the area and unable to provide emergency services with an accurate location. This can result in the Coast Guard sending two or more search teams to find causalities, thus losing valuable time.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Eoghan O’Brien commented on the new signage saying “This new emergency signage is a fantastic safety initiative and is especially important given the huge numbers of visitors this spectacular coastal path attracts.”

Fergus Cooney of the Irish Coast Guard’s Howth Unit commented that ‘In a number of recent incidents the new signage has enabled a quicker response time to reach and treat casualties’.

It is planned to extend the initiative to other areas of Howth and Fingal in the near future.