Awarding part of search and rescue contract to Irish Air Corps ‘will end in tears’

Chris Reynolds, director of the Irish Coast Guard, warned against the proposal that the Air Corps could provide search and rescue services for the east coast of the country

Chris Reynolds, is currently on secondment in Somalia, where he is heading the EU’s mission to build up a maritime policing force

A row has broken out after the head of the Irish Coast Guard warned that any move to award the Irish Air Corps part of the state’s search and rescue contract “would end in tears”.

The current search and rescue contract with CHC Ireland, a private operator, is due to end in 2023. The Department of Transport is currently undertaking a consultative process ahead of putting the new contract, worth an estimated €700 million out ...