Mr. Eugene Clonan:

The search and rescue mission co-ordinator is usually able to weed out hoax calls, but there have been occasions when we responded unnecessarily. For example, there was an incident in north County Dublin which involved the activation of an emergency position indicating radio beacon, EPIRB, carried by aircraft and ships. The signal was received by a satellite and relayed to a mission control centre and we were alerted. The beacon transmits the position and name of the vessel. We rang the owner who stated he had sold the boat years previously. However, as it was still a distress call, we dispatched a helicopter.

As the EPIRB was in a garden shed, we were able to pick it up. It was an accidental activation. If it was malicious-----