#RNLI - Following its successful fundraising appeal, which saw locals raise the €65,000 needed to fund a new lifeboat, Fethard RNLI is asking the community to choose the name of their new lifesaving vessel.
The naming of an RNLI lifeboat is a special honour given to the donor of the boat — and in this case, that is the people of the Hook Peninsula.
Since 1885, Fethard RNLI’s lifeboats were provided centrally by the lifesaving charity from donors across Ireland and the UK. The current Fethard lifeboat, Tradewinds, was funded through the generosity of Bríd Mulhern of Dunmore.
The new lifeboat represents the first time in the station’s history that Fethard RNLI have funded a replacement locally. Incredibly, the money needed was raised in under 12 months.
Commenting on the new naming appeal, Oonagh Hearne from Fethard RNLI said: “Our community generously gave the money for our very own lifeboat. Now we need a name that represents our community and their generosity.
“It needs to reflect the seafarers that our lifeboat serves, be respectful of the work the volunteer lifeboat crew carry out and echo our community’s long history and tradition of saving lives at sea.
“We’re looking for more than just a name; we are looking for an identity that conveys the importance of the work that this lifeboat will be carrying out.”
Submissions should be made to Fethard RNLI lifeboat operations manager Walter Foley by email to [email protected] before Sunday 30 April.
A small committee representing the Fethard RNLI Lifeboat Management Group will consider all suggestions and put that name forward to the RNLI.
The new lifeboat is scheduled to arrive in December 2017 with the official naming ceremony to follow in summer of 2018. An announcement on the name will be made shortly after Easter.