{"id":608639,"date":"2026-08-29T21:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T21:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/608639\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T21:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T21:28:15","slug":"donegal-woman-helps-make-history-with-droghedas-first-all-female-rescue-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/608639\/","title":{"rendered":"Donegal woman helps make history with Drogheda\u2019s first all-female rescue crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Killybegs Coast Guard volunteer Charlotte McDaid has helped Drogheda Coast Guard achieve a special first by forming part of its first fully operational all-female Search and Rescue boat crew.<\/p>\n

Charlotte, who serves as a Deputy Coxswain, joined Coxswain Sue McKinney and crew member Jean O\u2019Reilly for the milestone recently.<\/p>\n

The team is also believed to be the first fully operational all-female boat crew fielded by an Irish Coast Guard unit on the East Coast.<\/p>\n

Originally from Donegal, Charlotte began her Coast Guard journey as a volunteer with the Killybegs unit.<\/p>\n

She later transferred to Drogheda Coast Guard after she and her husband Kieran moved to the area for work.<\/p>\n

An accountant by profession, Charlotte is also mum to five-month-old Rosie. Despite the demands of work and family life, she continues to train and progress through her Coast Guard qualifications.<\/p>\n

Charlotte is currently working towards becoming a Coxswain, which would see her join the relatively small number of women qualified for the role within the Irish Coast Guard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pictured are Sue McKinney (centre), Coxswain, Charlotte McDaid (left), Deputy Coxswain, and Jean O’Reilly (right), Crew Member.<\/p>\n

Picture Fran Caffrey<\/p>\n

The historic crew was led by Sue McKinney, who has almost 20 years of experience with Drogheda Coast Guard.<\/p>\n

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Sue has worked her way through the different operational roles within the unit, completing the training and gaining the experience needed along the way. Four years ago, she qualified as a Coxswain and can now find herself heading out on an operational tasking with a full female crew alongside her.<\/p>\n

Search and Rescue isn’t just something Sue does in her spare time either. She is also a Watch Officer with the Irish Coast Guard at Valentia, where she helps coordinate Coast Guard responses to incidents around Ireland’s south and south-west coasts.<\/p>\n

Jean O\u2019Reilly brings extensive experience as a lifeguard and swimming instructor to the crew.<\/p>\n

She also works to educate young people about water safety by visiting schools and helping children understand how to stay safe around the water.<\/p>\n

Drogheda Coast Guard said the milestone reflected the years of training, callouts and commitment undertaken by all three volunteers.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: “Search and Rescue has traditionally been a very male-dominated environment, so seeing Sue, Charlotte and Gene heading out together as an operational crew is a great reflection of how things have changed.<\/p>\n

“But when the pager goes, none of that really matters.<\/p>\n

“They’re simply three trained Coast Guard volunteers, ready to launch and do the job they have spent years preparing for.<\/p>\n

“A great achievement for Sue, Charlotte and Jean, and a very proud moment for everyone at Drogheda Coast Guard.<\/p>\n

“Remember: If you see someone in difficulty on or near the water, dial 112 or 999 and ask for the Coast Guard.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Killybegs Coast Guard volunteer Charlotte McDaid has helped Drogheda Coast Guard achieve a special first by forming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-608639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}