A new search and rescue helicopter has been unveiled for the Dublin region.
It comes as new figures show that the Coastguard responded to 2,627 incidents last year.
The addition of the 4th helicopter means that the entire fleet has now been upgraded.
As well as responding to emergencies involving fishing craft, leisure vessels and mountaineers, the new helicopters also provide emergency transport for the HSE.
Director of the Irish Coastguard Chris Reynolds says the new helicopters will be much faster.
“The other ones were very limited in what they could do, where they could land, and how they can go” he said.
“These can more or less go anywhere, anytime – they've got road or ice”.
“A simple example of taking a patient from Galway to Dublin: we would have to fly around the entire coast in the winter…now, we just go up over and back”.
“So you're cutting time by about 75 percent” he added.
