Services line out to rescue stars
Firefighters used cutting equipment to free Irish rugby star Ronan O’Gara and Cork senior footballer Graham Canty from separate vehicles after the smash.
But the two were never in any real danger as they took part in a mass casualty road traffic accident demonstration staged as part of the Voluntary and Statutory Emergency Services Exhibition in the city — one of the largest such events ever staged in Ireland. More than 3,500 people watched the quayside demos, with over 10,000 visiting exhibition stands in nearby City Hall.
For the crash simulation, O’Gara was the driver of a car carrying four passengers, which had ‘collided’ with a van, carrying Canty and two others.
Firefighters used cutting equipment to free the occupants as HSE advanced paramedics treated the passengers inside themangled vehicles.
Mary O’Brien, who brought her three children to the demo, said it was great to see the emergency services at work. “We only ever see this in the papers or on TV. It was really amazing to be so close to see exactly what they do.”
Earlier, hundreds lined Kennedy Quay to watch the first of a series of exercises. Crosshaven’s RNLI crew and the Irish Coast Guard’s Rescue 115 helicopter combined for a search and rescue demo, including a simulated cliff-rescue, in the south channel of the river Lee.
The Air Corps Casa aircraft performed three very low-level passes over the city quays, where the LÉ Ciara was berthed and open to visitors.
The Civil Defence, Port of the Cork, the Defence Forces, the navy, and Cork City Fire Brigade gave a display of water delivery capabilities to show how they could fight a fire on board a stricken vessel, the Naomh Cartha.
On board that vessel were Gerry Walsh and Adrian O’Mahony — two men whose lives were saved by the RNLI last year after the vessel they were on went up in flames near Roche’s Point during a fishing trip.
In another exercise, an armed naval boarding team stormed a suspected drug-running ship and arrested two suspects who were handed over to gardaí.
One of the suspects fled on foot but was tracked down by a bloodhound from the Irish Search Dogs Association.
Meanwhile, in City Hall, all of the statutory and voluntary agencies had information stands to encourage young people to sign up.
The event was organised by the Knocknaheeny- Hollyhill Garda Youth Diversion Project in conjunction with gardaí at Gurranabraher and Cork City Council.
One of the organisers, Superintendent Con Cadogan, said the event will help build links between the agencies and encourage young people to join the voluntary agencies.
“It creates a bond and builds trust between the agencies, and when we are confronted with tragedies, it means we will work even better together,” he said.
Another organiser, Tony Fitzgerald said: “Thousands of people visited over the weekend. It shows that people have responded to and greatly appreciate the work of the statutory and voluntary emergency services, who are available to us 24/7.”
* The event will be featured on RTÉ One’s Nationwide at 7pm tonight.
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