Search and Rescue

 In Search and Rescue, Lorna Siggins exposes the shocking systemic flaws that have led to tragic deaths during sea rescue attempts around Ireland, and also looks at successful rescues where, despite all the odds, the courage and dedication of members of the Irish Coast Guard and the volunteers who work with them have saved countless lives.

On 13 March 2017, the Rescue 116 crew of Capt. Dara Fitzpatrick, Capt. Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith took off from Dublin airport just after 11 p.m. for a medical evacuation off the west coast of Ireland. The first indication of disaster came when the crew failed to answer a radio call at 12.46 a.m. Shortly after 2 a.m. on 14 March, sister helicopter Rescue 118 spotted a casualty and debris in the water. There would be no survivors from R116, and extensive searches failed to locate the bodies of two of the four crew.

The crash occurred just six months after the loss of experienced Irish Coast Guard volunteer Caitríona Lucas, from Doolin Coast Guard in Co. Clare, and eighteen years after the loss of four Air Corps crew who were returning from a night rescue in thick fog off the south-east coast. 

In Search and Rescue, Lorna Siggins exposes the shocking systemic flaws that led to these tragic deaths, but also looks at successful rescues where, despite all the odds, the courage and dedication of members of the Irish Coast Guard, Air Corps, RNLI, fishing crew and the volunteers who work with them have saved countless lives.

'With more than 30 years’ experience as a journalist and as former marine correspondent with The Irish Times, Siggins knows how to present details in a clear and non-judgmental way. ... In each story, Siggins gives space for families, friends and rescuers to speak, and as their words lift off the page they, to quote Heaney, catch the heart off guard and blow it open. ... In this book, Siggins chronicles the evolution of the the Irish Coast Guard air-sea rescue service, and gives captivating accounts of brave and selfless rescue missions led by the Coast Guard and RNLI lifeboats. Her book is thoroughly compelling.'

Lorna Siggins is a journalist working in print and on radio, and a former Irish Times western and marine correspondent.  She is the author of Everest Calling (1994 and 2013) on the first Irish ascent of Everest and subsequent expeditions; Mary Robinson: The Woman Who Took Power in the Park (1997); Mayday! Mayday! (2004) on Irish helicopter search and rescue; and Once Upon a Time in the West: the Corrib gas controversy (2010). She is co-producer with Sarah Blake of RTÉ’s Documentary on One, Miracle on Galway Bay (2021).

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