The administration of Civil Defence in the County is as follows: The County Manager is the County Controller and the day to day administrator of the service is carried out by the County Civil Defence Officer.

The Civil Defence Officer can be contacted at the:

Civil Defence officer, Civil Defence buildings, Heywood Road, Clonmel or Civic Offices, Limerick Road, Nenagh.

Phone No: 071065000

Fax: 052 6123339

Email: dolores.fahey@tipperarycoco.ie

Civil Defence is an organisation comprising membership made up of 'VOLUNTEERS'. Membership is open to Female and Male volunteers between the age of 18 and 65. It is necessary to complete and Application Form for consideration and in the event of vacancy being available every consideration will be given to each application. New Volunteers complete an initial probation period of twelve month and may sign on for three year periods thereafter. In the event of volunteer not being in a position to attend training, attend duties assigned etc., membership will be deemed to have elapsed.

Weekly classes held in the following areas.

Clonmel

Nenagh

Carrick on Suir

Kilcash

Killenaule

Ballyporeen

Ballingarry

Bansha

Newcastle.

Membership is open to persons between the ages of 18 and 65. Members are drawn from all walks of life with diversity in age, education, social background and physical abilities. The following gives an outline of what is expected of members:

Civil Defence is a Nationwide Voluntary based organisation which consists of highly skilled and professionally trained personnel who give their time freely to serve their communities. It is open persons between the ages of 18yrs and 65yrs.

Civil Defence was set up in 1950’s as part of a National Defence response to potential hazards which may arise during a war time situation such as radioactive fallout, biological or chemical warfare.

The Government has decided that the Civil Defence mission should continue to be: To facilitate, through the Local Authorities, Civil Defence responses for emergency relief and support to ensure the operation of vital services and the maintenance of public life and to provide other community supports as directed by the Government. The members of the Civil Defence organisation are volunteers and local administration is arranged by a full time Civil Defence Officer.

The following courses are available to Civil Defence Volunteers, subject to availability, length of service, and at the discretion of the Civil Defence Officer.

• Cardiac First Responder (CFR)

• Occupational First Aid (O.F.A Fetac level 5)
• Emergency First Responder (EFR)
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• Food Safety & You
• Swift Water
• Flood Response
• Radio Communication
• Manual handling /patient moving
• Child protection
• Technical Rescue
• Basic AFS

To supplement and enhance training various courses are undertaken, for which certification is provided, and competitions/exercises between other Local Authorities are arranged annually. In addition Civil Defence provides support to many community events such as Point to Point Races, Athletics, Sports Meetings, Gymkhanas, Cycling Events, etc., and also provides transport for charitable organisation such as Chernobyl Children, Special Summer Camps etc.. This voluntary work also gives the volunteer a hands-on approach to demonstrate the skills attained in the training centres.