Foghorns fall silent
From the Irish Times January 12th . THE LAST remaining foghorns around the 7,800km coastline have been switched off “officially” by the Commissioners of Irish Lights and several harbour boards. However, should a blanket of cloud descend over Fastnet rock it may be that passing craft will still hear a ghostly warning sound from the fog signals for some time yet. Fastnet is one of three lighthouses which will require a physical visit before the fog signal can be “disabled” – the others being at Old Head, Kinsale in Co Cork and Dundalk in Co Louth. The Commissioners of Irish Lights confirmed yesterday that some of the signals may still be working beyond the “P45” date of January 11th, but most just required a “touch of a computer mouse” at headquarters in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, to be silenced. The commissioner has been disabling fog signals at various lighthouses for the past 20 years and said it issued a marine notice about the remaining horns at nine lighthouses last September. ...