Campaign to save vital bases forced to launch one more time

There is a sense of deja vu about all this.

Almost exactly four years ago, it looked like the coast guard stations at Valentia island in south Kerry and Malin Head in Donegal would be closed in favour of a dual hi-tech operation centred on Drogheda with a sub-station at Shannon.

The reason? A report rooted in managerial expediency and a jaundiced notion of efficiency that neglected to take into account the effectiveness of local knowledge and more than 200 years of nurture versus nature. You won’t find passion on any balance sheet, but, when it comes to saving lives, it makes all the difference.