11^th January 2011

The Commissioners of Irish Lights announce that their last 9 remaining fog signals will no longer operate after today.

Although we have been closing fog signals on a case by case basis for over 20 years, the 2010 Aids to Navigation (AtoN) Review re-confirmed that fog signals can no longer be considered as AtoN.

The recommendations in the Review were accepted by the Boards of the GLAs and the Marine Users Consultative Committee.

Irish Lights provide an integrated service of Aids to Navigation in British and Irish waters with our sister Services -Trinity House and Northern Lighthouse Board. Our mandate is to provide Aids to Navigation commensurate with the amount and nature of marine traffic and the degree of risk.

The 3 GLAs carry out a joint AtoN Review every 5 years. The 2010/2015 Review commenced in May 2009 and was completed and published in May 2010. Each AtoN is examined with regard to the amount of traffic and the degree of risk and whether the AtoN remains relevant.

This review is available on the CIL website at www.cil.ie/publications

CIL published a Notice to Mariners, No 10 of 2010 on 24^th September 2010 advising that the remaining fog signals would be closed down on or about the 11^th January 2011.