At Tuesday nights District Council meeting in Enniskillen, Cllr Mark Buchanan brought a motion to council at the request of Kyra McKinley’s family.

Kyra McKinley (21) was airlifted to hospital by the Air Ambulance following a collision in August 2018, and tragically passed away some days after the incident.

The motion detailed, “That this Council commends the work of Air Ambulance Northern Ireland across the Fermanagh and Omagh District. Furthermore, this council recognises the significant public fundraising efforts required to keep the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance operational and that we, as a council, support the promotion of this charity in line with current council policy”.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Buchanan said “the desire of the McKinley family is that council consider providing some level of funding towards this very worthy charity in line with our neighbouring councils who have recently agreed to provide funds to help the Air Ambulance Service.”

In the Fermanagh and Omagh District alone, the Air Ambulance has been deployed 55 times since inception in August 2017. The service is currently funded by voluntary, community organisations and individuals who raise vital funds for the service which costs in the region of £5,500 per day, with £2 million required to operate the service each year.

Cllr Alex Baird proposed an amendment to the motion which asked the Department of Health and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to fund the running costs in order to sustain the service.

Cllr Baird said he believed this would be ‘sensible approach’ to maintain the emergency service.

The amended motion was agreed on by Cllr Buchanan and the motion was unanimously supported by all of the councillors in the chamber.

Welcoming the motion, Cllr Keith Elliott said the air ambulance is one of the greatest assets in the emergency services, and he has seen first hand the work it does and the quick response for the transfer. 

Cllr Elliott also added that St Angelo airport in Enniskillen was the second base for the service which was used for transfer and refuelling.