Mourne Mountain Rescue Team

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Mourne Mountain Rescue Team

The Mourne Mountain Rescue Team was established in 1962 and was the first mountain rescue team in Ireland.

The Team is made up entirely of volunteers who turn out in all weather, day or night, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

15/06/2026

Hopefully our last update post!

It’s been a long journey but we’re almost at the end… 14 years to be exact! So a really good time to acknowledge those that have shared the journey and ensured we are where we are.

To all our members past and present, their families, friends, supporters and our entire community… thank you each and every one of you - we hope to see as many of you on the 27th as possible!

To Lidl who have so generously provided an excellent site, alongside facilitating initial design, obtaining planning and installing our foundations - we hope we’ll be good neighbours?

To the Community Ownership Fund who took our fundraising across the line, ensuring the establishment of a very unique community asset - with absolutely no debt.

To those that have joined us at the very, but critical, end of our journey… the build… Alan Bennett, Architect, Nigel Proctor, Mechanical & Electrical Engineer, Joe Green, Quantity Surveyor, Roy Armstrong, Structural Engineer & Contractor Ganson UK, their team Gerard McClelland, Barry Agnew, Conor Beeks, Vincent Sloan, their sub-contractors and suppliers.

And finally, to our new neighbours on the Tullybrannigan Road and Shanslieve Drive, thank you for your understanding and patience - we very much look forward to welcoming you in for a cuppa on the 27th.

So who’s coming along on the 27th?

08/06/2026

The team were active at the weekend with a call from police at 0922hrs on Saturday to assist a person reported to have sustained a head wound during an event in the mournes. A team response was initiated and, with limited detail on the location of the incident, likely areas were checked and the team liaised with event organisers to clarify details. In time, it was established that the injured person had been assisted to safety by fellow event competitors. 8 members responded with others on standby and the team stood down at 1201hrs.
Sunday training was on Spellack working on rope systems. We were slightly damp at its conclusion and took advantage of an opportunity to dry out and refuel at the Mourne Ramblers summer picnic!
If you do get into difficulty in the hills, dial 999, ask for police and tell the call handler that it is a mountain rescue incident, with as much detail about location and persons involved as possible.
If, subsequently, you do manage to extricate yourself or someone else from a situation, contact police again to confirm the situation is resolved, including who and what was involved, so that everyone is on the same page.

26/05/2026

INVITATION ✨

We’re absolutely delighted to invite you to the Community Launch Day for our new Rescue Centre on Saturday 27 June, from 12 noon to 5pm.

Drop in whenever suits you for a first look around our new rescue centre, meet the team, and help us celebrate this very special milestone.

It’s also our chance to say thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way — we truly couldn’t have done it without you, so we’d love to see you there.

Please feel free to share with family and friends, and let us know in the comments if you can make it 👍

Keep an eye out here for further updates as we progress our plans.

24/05/2026

Callout 24/5/26: At 1739hrs the team were asked to assist a walker who had fallen sustaining lower leg and head injuries in Kilbroney Forest. The team responded and arrived on scene to find that local a Fire Service crew and NI Air Ambulance were already on scene and had treated and packaged the injured person for evacuation.
Team members assisted NIFRS personell to transport the casualty by stretcher to a team landrover for transport to the roadside and handover to NIAS.
17 members responded and stood down at 2030hrs.

22/05/2026

Callout 22.05.26;

At 0822hrs this morning, the team received a request for assistance from Police with an ongoing incident in Castlewellan Forest Park. Our thoughts are with all involved at this difficult time.

6 members responded and stood down at 1044hrs.

Library pic.

21/05/2026

No two days are the same in Mountain Rescue…

Yesterday, the team were delighted to be invited to meet with King Charles on his visit to Newcastle. Aside from a brief seagull attack, it was a great morning which afforded us an opportunity to highlight the Voluntary Search & Rescue sector and the specific role of the team.

We had the pleasure of joining with several other local charities and emergency services including Newcastle RNLI and the NI Fire & Rescue.

A special note of thanks to Newcastle Methodist Church for their hospitality and Newcastle Community Choir for a fitting rendition of the ‘Mountains of Mourne’.

18/05/2026

Callouts 16 & 18 May 2026: The team have responded to two incidents in recent days. On Saturday at 2057hrs we were asked to assist a walker who sustained a lower leg injury descending Slieve Binnian. With support from friends the injured person made it to the Carrick Little track where team members met and transported them to the road in a team vehicle. 3 members responded with others on standby and stood down at 2257hrs.
Tonight at 1953hrs, we were asked to help police search for a vulnerable missing person in the Donard Wood area. A search plan was instigated and team members located and supported the the person until in the care of the police. SkywatchNI also responded to the incident.18 members responded and stood down at 2200hrs.

07/05/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported Mourne Mountain Rescue Team over the past month. Your donations, fundraising, and continued encouragement make a real difference to our volunteers and the work we do across the Mournes.

It's been a tough month for all those who love the Mournes to see the devastation cause by the recent fires. This Thank you Thursday, we'd like to give a huge shout out to all at Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service who spent so much time time and effort protecting the landscape we hold dear.

The support from the public has incredibly touching for the whole team to see.
With special thanks this month to:

The Burrendale Hotel
Classic & Autotest Motorclub
Our generous regular donors and cash givers

We would also like to acknowledge a particularly generous legacy gift which was recently left to the team. This incredible support will have a lasting impact, helping ensure our volunteers remain trained, equipped, and ready to respond whenever people need assistance in the mountains.

02/05/2026

Hats off to the Fire Service who have been dealing with fires right across the Mournes non-stop for the past week - we’re only too aware of the difficulties of operating in the Mountain environment and the challenges they pose.

Thanks also to the walkers, runners, campers etc that have amended, postponed or cancelled activities to aid the ongoing emergency efforts.

Please continue to follow the advice of the Fire & Police Services - available on their social channels - for the foreseeable, until such times as normal service resumes.

nifrsofficial
policeservice.ni

$Callout 28.04.26;At 1335hrs today we received a request via NIAS to assist a walker with a suspected leg fracture on the...$

28/04/2026

Callout 28.04.26;

At 1335hrs today we received a request via NIAS to assist a walker with a suspected leg fracture on the summit of Doan. The team responded, located, stabilised, packaged and stretchered the casualty off the peak to the Banns Road. After a slightly bumpy Landrover journey the casualty was transferred to road access for handover to an Ambulance. The team were also joined on the hillside during this call by a NIAS HART crew.

Thanks to everyone assisting today in addition to which we had a total of 14 members respond with stand down at 2038hrs.

We wish the casualty well.

Address

Rescue Base
Newcastle

Website

http://www.mournemrt.org/donate

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