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Fethard RNLI Launches Major Festival For Lifeboat Appeal

21st May 2016
Members of the Waves Music Festival committee with Fethard RNLI Members of the Waves Music Festival committee with Fethard RNLI Credit: RNLI/Fethard

#RNLI - Irish country music sensation Nathan Carter is set to headline the inaugural Waves Music Festival on Sunday 28 August 2016 at Loftus Hall in the historic coastal area of Hook Head.

The family-themed day-long music event is being run in aid of the Fethard RNLI fundraising appeal, which is set to raise €65,000 needed for a new inshore lifeboat due to be placed on service in Fethard at the end of 2017.

Performing alongside Nathan Carter will be home-grown group Corner Boy and new to the Irish music scene, Wexford’s own Elmore.

A further act is set to be announced in the next few weeks which will be cause a great deal of excitement among the teenage audience, ensuring that the day appeals to all the family.

RNLI in conjunction with Beat will be providing the opportunity for one lucky artists within the south east to perform live and kick off the festival on the Sunday.

Momentum Events have joint forces with the Fethard RNLI fundraising team and will create a dedicated family kids area within one of the walled gardens. This will allow a secure play area for the full family to enjoy.

Loftus Hall proprietor Aidan Quigley said: "Loftus Hall is delighted to support the RNLI and offer our unique and unusual venue for the event. This year Loftus Hall celebrates its 666th anniversary."

Fethard RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Rebecca Doyle also commented: "The Waves Music Festival is the first music festival the RNLI have undertaken in the South East and it is a huge privilege for us to be given this opportunity.

"The event has a capacity of up to 5,000 people and a purpose built event site will be created at Loftus Hall for the occasion, creating a picnic style theme for the summer event.

"We are particularly thrilled to have an artist of the calibre of Nathan Carter play the festival. Nathan has a huge following in Ireland and his shows have been packing out venues across the country.



"We hope that people locally will support this great event and that we will welcome many visitors to the area on the day. While loads of fun will be had, this festival has its roots in a great cause and that is saving lives at sea and supporting the work of the charity on the South East coast."

Gates open at 11am and the concert finishes at 8pm. Tickets for the daylong event are €25 each with €85 for a family of four. For more information visit www.wavesfestival.ie.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy

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MacDara Conroy is a contributor covering all things on the water, from boating and wildlife to science and business

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Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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