Coastguard helicopter visits Dunboyne pupils

To mark Engineers' Week 2013, the Dunboyne Junior and Senior Primary Schools were visited by Irish Coast Guard Helicopter RESCUE 116 this week. The visit has been arranged under Engineers Irelands' STEPS programme, established in 2000 to encourage primary and post-primary students to explore the world of science and engineering. Following the landing, the 1,150 pupils of the two schools had the opportunity to walk around the chopper and speak to the crew. The landing area will be controlled by the Howth Coastguard ground unit, who will also conduct a demonstration for the children. Siobhan Cartúir, principal of Dunboyne Junior Primary School, said: "All of the children and staff were very excited at the chance to have a close up view of what we usually see far away in the sky. It was a great chance to get close to such a big machine and gave us lots of scope to research more about helicopters during Engineers' Week. I hope that this visit will also increase the awareness of the important and invaluable work of the rescue programme carried out by the services in Ireland. We have had many visitors to our school in Dunboyne but we never had such a "flying visit" as this before! Hopefully this will inspire lots of boys and girls to become our engineers of the future." Liz Whoriskey, chairperson of Dunboyne Primary Schools Parents' Association, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this exciting venture with our school. The pupils had an unforgettable experience with the helicopter landing during Engineers' Week. The school always strives to expose our pupils to events that help broaden their education. We would like to thank the Coast Guard and CHC Helicopters. A special thanks to our local resident, Tommy Fitzsimmons who helped coordinate the event."