#RNLI - Fethard RNLI launched their inshore lifeboat yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 20 April) following concerns that a person may have been missing on the Hook Peninsula in Co Wexford.

The alarm was raised when a man did not return from a walk at Hook Head when expected.

The volunteer lifeboat crew responded quickly to a launch request by the Irish Coast Guard following the report at 4.30pm.

The D-class lifeboat Tradewinds, helmed by John Colfer together with three volunteer lifeboat crew, launched at Slade Harbour within minutes following the pager alert, assisted by five shore crew who began a shoreline search.

At 5.15pm the search was stood down with the notification that the man was found safe and well.

Speaking following the callout, Fethard RNLI deputy launching authority Hugh Burke said: "We would like to commend the member of the public who raised the alarm today when they were concerned. We would always rather launch to a false alarm with good intent than not launch at all.

"Our volunteers responded quickly this afternoon to aid in the search at sea and on the shore but we were stood down quickly on hearing the good news that the man was not missing but overdue and had been located safe and well."

Fethard RNLI is always looking for new volunteers from all walks of life to join their lifesaving team.

If you are aged 17 or over and would like to find out more please contact the lifeboat station or make a visit during its May Bank holiday open weekend.

Wexford RNLI rescued a lone sailor yesterday evening after his yacht hit a sandbank in heavy seas off Rosslare Point.

Volunteer lifeboat crews from Wexford and Rosslare Harbour RNLI were launched at 6.35pm following reports that a 26ft yacht had hit a sandbank somewhere off Wexford.

As little information was given on the location, both the inshore lifeboat from Wexford and the all-weather lifeboat from Rosslare Harbour proceeded to the Wexford Bar area which is known for its treacherous seas over a myriad of sandbanks.

Once on scene, Wexford RNLI spotted the vessel 100m north of Rosslare Point on Wexford Bar. Two crew members Damien Foley and David Maguire climbed onto the yacht to find a lone sailor tired from his 14 hour voyage from Fishguard.

With the yacht at anchor, the crew battled to release the anchor with waves crashing over them. The anchor broke and the yacht escaped been broken up.

The lifeboat helmed by Sinead Casey and with crew member Simon Casey also onboard, took the casualty vessel under tow and navigated its way through difficult lumpy seas out to deep water where the tow was dropped.

The crew members onboard the yacht then steamed the vessel over a dirty Wexford bar under the watchful eye off Rosslare Harbour RNLI.

The sailor and his yacht were safely brought alongside at Wexford Quay.

Speaking following the call out, Sinead Casey, Wexford RNLI helm said: ‘This was a challenging rescue but our crew who are highly skilled and trained managed to take the vessel under their control much to the relief of the tired sailor who was on a voyage from Wales to Scotland. Thanks to the great team effort by the volunteers from both Wexford and Rosslare Harbour, the sailor and his yacht were rescued from very difficult seas.’

Ballyglass RNLI is assisting three fishermen this afternoon after their 40ft trawler got into difficulty off the Mayo coast.

The volunteer crew was requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat shortly after 10 o’clock this morning following a report that a fishing vessel with three onboard was experiencing problems some 28 nautical miles north of Benwee Head.

Weather conditions at the time were described as favourable with a calm sea and good visibility.

The lifeboat under Coxswain John Walsh and with six crew members onboard launched at 10.25am.

Once on scene approximately an hour and a half later, the lifeboat crew observed that no one was in any immediate danger and began to work with the fishing crew to set up a tow.

With a rope in place, the lifeboat began the slow tow back to Ballyglass, an ongoing passage which is expected to take five hours.

Agatha Hurst, Ballyglass RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer said: ‘The fishermen did the right thing this morning and requested assistance when their vessel got into difficulty. The lifeboat crew successfully set up a tow and we hope to have everyone returned safe and well to Ballyglass later this afternoon.’

I said words in tribute to a Lifeboatman on radio this week that I have never said before as I introduced my programme (scroll down the page for the podcast). I meant them and I was honoured to be able to speak them about a man who has spent 42 years with the RNLI at what I regard as a famous lifeboat station. This is what I said on the programme:

“Thank you for joining me on this marine voyage in which we will hear a particularly interesting interview with a lifeboatman and the changes he has experienced in a 42-year career with the RNLI, Tony Kehoe of the famous Rosslare Lifeboat Station talks frankly about a life rescuing people in trouble at sea in a way in which I’ve never before heard a lifeboatman being so direct and clear about the good, the bad and the tough aspects of a career aboard lifeboats.”

Tony spoke of rescue work in older lifeboats and how they could be hard to handle! And about a time when “someone knocked on your door in the middle of the night and said you were needed at the lifeboat…” He talked of the changes, particularly in the speed of lifeboats getting to the scene of a rescue or tragedy faster and requiring quicker responses by the crew to a variety of issues arising from that speed over the water and also, what it does to the body physically, when hitting waves at speeds of 16 knots and more, rather than 8 knots in older boats.

He comes of a family with huge commitment to the lifeboat service and two of his sons also joined Rosslare Station. I was very impressed by his interview and particularly what he told Niamh Stephenson, also of the RNLI who did the interview for the programme, about the most important requirements for a good lifeboat crew ---- “being part of a team, trusting each other..” and his final wish for those who carry on the service: “Mind yourselves….”

I am confident that you will enjoy listening to his interview and will appreciate even more, the value of the lifeboat service when you have heard it.

In that regard I commend to you May Day, Sunday May 1, at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, where I intend to be, to hear the Wexford Sinfonia Orchestra play their five-part suite, ‘HEROES OF THE HELEN BLAKE,’ a tribute to the men of the Fethard-on-Sea Lifeboat who died in the rescue service to the sailing cargo ship, Mexico. The members of the orchestra range in age from 14 to 80. The performance will begin at 3 p.m. MAY DAY is the annual Fundraising Day for the lifeboats. Tickets are €20, students €15 and can be bought at the Box Office at the Concert Hall or online at www.nch.ie  Do support the lifeboats on this day….

THIS ISLAND NATION reports on the maritime traditions, culture, history and modern marine developments in our island nation. Your comments are always welcome. Email: [email protected]

#RNLI - Skerries RNLI's volunteer crew headed to the West of Ireland this month as they paid a visit to their colleagues in Clifden RNLI.

Once a year the volunteers in Skerries undertake a team-building and fact-finding trip to other rescue services and lifeboat stations.

Despite being located on opposite sides of the country, Skerries RNLI and Clifden RNLI had previously exercised together, along with Clogherhead RNLI, off the East Coast back in 2014.

On that occasion the Clifden crew were being trained on the Mersey-class all-weather lifeboat that the station took on for a 12-month trial.

Last Saturday (16 April), Clifden RNLI launched all three of their lifeboats – a Mersey-class, an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat and a D-class inshore lifeboat – to take the volunteers from Skerries afloat and give them a taste of the challenges they faced on the West Coast and at their own station in particular.

Skerries RNLI would like to thank volunteers Philip Ferguson and Laura Boylan for organising the trip; Irish Rail, who very generously subsidised the travel costs; and most importantly all, the volunteers at Clifden RNLI for giving up their time and extending a warm welcome.

Speaking about the exercise, Skerries RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Gerry Canning said: "It’s always a great learning experience for our volunteers to see the challenges that face other crews around the coast, and how they deal with them.

"The guys from Clifden RNLI were fantastic and really pulled out all the stops to make sure we went afloat and got a good insight into why they require each of their boats."

#RNLI - Portaferry RNLI's volunteer lifeboat crew were called out yesterday afternoon (Sunday 17 April) to assist a 36ft angling vessel which had run into difficulty north of the South Rock Light Buoy near Portaferry, Co Down.

The alarm was raised just before 12.25pm and the lifeboat was dispatched to the scene, some 10 miles east of the lifeboat station.

The angling boat, with three people on board, had developed engine problems in what were described as calm conditions with a Force 3 wind and a slight sea swell.

When on scene, the lifeboat crew checked everyone was okay before taking the vessel under tow to Portavogie, arriving there at 2pm. The lifeboat was back on station at 2.30pm.

Commenting on the callout, Portaferry RNLI lifeboat operations manager Brian Bailie said: "This was a fairly routine callout for the lifeboat crew and we were glad to be able to offer assistance.

"However as we approach the busy season and more people are taking to the water for leisure we would advise the public to make sure they check all their equipment is in proper working order."

The RNLI offers sea safety advice online at RNLI.org/RespectTheWater

At a special ceremony held today Sligo Bay RNLI officially named its new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Sheila & Dennis Tongue, at its station in Rosses Point.

Peter Killen, a member of the Irish Council of the RNLI, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI before handing her over into the care of Sligo Bay Lifeboat Station.

He paid tribute to the donors Sheila & Dennis Tongue who had left a generous legacy to the RNLI in recognition of the vital life-saving work of the charity and as a thank-you for the happy days they spent living on the coast at Exmouth.

The couple were born in Birmingham in the 1920s and on Dennis’s retirement they moved to Devon where they lived until their eighties, overlooking the coast. The couple did not have any children and it was during their retirement that they came to know and admire the work of the RNLI and recognise its place in the life of the communities it served.

The couple were represented today by their nephews Raymond and Philip Tongue who travelled to Ireland for the special occasion.

Philip had the honour of officially naming the lifeboat during the ceremony which was also attended by the donor family of Elsinore, Sligo Bay’s former lifeboat which during her 13 years on service launched 189 times and brought 155 people to safety.

The new state of the art Atlantic 85 lifeboat was introduced into the RNLI fleet in 2005. The lifeboat is 8.4 metres in length and weighs 1.8 tonnes. Improvements on its predecessor include a faster top speed of 35 knots, radar, provision for a fourth crew member and more space for survivors.

Since the new lifeboat went on service on Sligo Bay in November it has launched four times to call outs.

During the event, Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said the naming ceremony and service of dedication was a wonderful occasion in the history of the lifeboat station, and marked the tremendous generosity of Sheila and Dennis Tongue.

‘It is wonderful to have the opportunity to thank the family directly for this amazing generosity. We assure you that you will always have a warm welcome here among us and we genuinely hope you will come and visit. We also commit to you our utmost dedication in ensuring that this wonderful new lifeboat is indeed a lifesaver in Sligo Bay.’

Mr Murphy paid tribute to the volunteers at Sligo Bay RNLI saying it was they who would give the new boat life: ‘It is your commitment and courage that will save lives with her in the future. Being a volunteer, whether on shore or afloat, involves a huge commitment in time and energy and I want to thank you and pay tribute to your dedication. Most importantly I wish all of you who put to sea safe passage aboard the Sheila and Dennis Tongue.’

He thanked the local fundraising branch for their untiring work and praised the generosity of the people of Sligo and further afield for helping to raise funds to enable the station to continue to save lives at sea.

He also thanked the families and friends of the crew, acknowledging that having someone involved in the RNLI was often not easy:
‘Away off for the many training sessions, or when the pagers go off you are being abandoned at the check-out in the supermarket, following down to the station with clothes as they ran off in their pyjamas, or suddenly having to make a whole new set of arrangements for the day. This can be a right pain, It’s not often we get a chance to publicly thank you, but we do today, to each and every one of you for your support.’

A lifeboat station was established at Sligo Bay in 1998. Situated at Rosses Point it is flanked by stations at Ballyglass to the south and Bundoran to the north.

In 1998, a D class lifeboat was sent to the station for evaluation and in 1999 an Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-525 Spix’s Macaw was placed on temporary station duty on 12 March.

An Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-512 US Navy League was placed on station on the 26 October.

On the 2 February 2002, B-781 Elsinore, an Atlantic 75 class, was put on service.

The new lifeboat, an Atlantic 85 and the latest version of the B class, was placed on service on the 19 November last year.

A crowd of well-wishers turned up to see the lifeboat officially named today with a bottle of champagne poured over the side of the boat before it launched at the end of the ceremony.

Among the guests officiating at the ceremony were Martin Reilly, Chair of the Lifeboat Management Group who welcomed guests and opened proceedings; Raymond Tongue, nephew and representative of the donor, who handed the lifeboat over to the RNLI, Peter Killen, Member of the RNLI Council for Ireland, who accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI and handed her into the care of the lifeboat station and Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, who accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the station.

The Rt Reverend Monsignor Gerard Dolan PP, and the Very Reverend Arfon Williams, led the Service of Dedication

#RNLI - A new Atlantic 85 class lifeboat has gone on service at Youghal RNLI.

The lifeboat, which arrived at the east Cork lifeboat station on Monday evening (11 April), replaces Patricia Jennings, which has been used to save lives at sea in East Cork since 2002.

Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 12 April) the volunteer lifeboat crew began a week of familiarisation training with their first exercise on the Gordon and Phil.

The new lifeboat has been funded through a legacy from the late Gwenda Bull, a native of Brighton in East Sussex, England, who was a supporter of the charity’s volunteers in saving lives at sea.

The lifeboat Gordon and Phil is named after Gwenda’s parents in their memory. Prior to her death at the age of 82 in 2013, Gwenda who lived near Shoreham lifeboat station which she visited regularly, said her family had always admired the wonderful work of the RNLI.

The Gordon and Phil will be officially named at a special naming ceremony and service of dedication at Youghal lifeboat station later this year.

In her 14 years in Youghal, Patricia Jennings launched 175 times, with its volunteer lifeboat crew rescuing 233 people, nine of whom were lives saved.

The new lifeboat has some advancement on its predecessor. The Atlantic 85 design allows room for four crew members and more kit than the Atlantic 75 lifeboat, which only had room for three crew members.

The lifeboat is powered by two 115-HP engines and has a stronger hull and greater top speed of 35 knots. The added radar allows the crew to operate more effectively in poor visibility and there is also VHF direction-finding equipment.

The vessel has a manually operated self-righting mechanism which combined with inversion-proofed engines keeps the lifeboat operational even after capsize. The lifeboat can also be beached in an emergency without causing damage to its engines or steering gear.

The Atlantic 85, which was introduced to the RNLI fleet in 2005 also carries a full suite of communication and electronic navigation aids, as well as a searchlight, night-vision equipment and flares for night-time operations.

Speaking following the arrival of the new lifeboat, Youghal RNLI lifeboat operations manager Fergus Hopkins said: "We are extremely grateful to Gwenda Bull for her generous legacy donation which has funded our new lifeboat.

"As we welcome a new lifeboat, there is also a sense of nostalgia among us today too as we bid a fond farewell to Patricia Jennings who provided us with 12 great years of service. Patricia Jennings time here in Youghal saved lives and brought many more people safely to shore and we hope her donor family will be just as proud as we are, of her many achievements.

"We are looking forward to being the custodians of this new lifeboat which will allow our volunteers to go on to rescue and save many more lives in the years to come."

#RNLI - The RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew from Larne carried out a training exercise with the Dublin-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 116 off Ballygally Head yesterday (Sunday 10 April).

The Sikorsky S-92 initially visited Larne on 20 March last when they landed on Curran Point. The visit consisted of a briefing to Larne RNLI crew and included an orientation of the helicopter. The Larne Coastguard team was also present on the day, securing a safe landing zone for the helicopter.

Larne RNLI launched both their relief all-weather lifeboat Windsor Runner and inshore lifeboat Terry yesterday for the exercise to simulate recovery of a casualty to a helicopter in an emergency situation.

The lifeboats practiced manoeuvres at speed with Rescue 116. A crew member was winched into the helicopter and a casualty stretcher was transferred from the helicopter to the lifeboat. The helicopter winchman also landed onto the inshore lifeboat.

The RNLI regularly carries out exercises with other rescue agencies. It is this training that ensures the crew are able to work effectively with other agencies in an emergency situation, including medical evacuation of a casualty to a helicopter.

Larne RNLI coxswain Frank Healy said: "This was a very valuable exercise with the Irish Coast Guard. It's fantastic to step up the volume and breadth of our training coming into what is traditionally a busy summer period for call outs. Our thanks to the Irish Coast Guard for making this exercise possible."

Lifeboat crew past and present, family, fundraisers and well-wishers galore all gathered this weekend to wish one of Rosslare RNLI’s most well-known and respected lifeboat men, a long and happy retirement. Tony Kehoe spent 42 years volunteering with the RNLI as well as working as a fleet mechanic for the charity for a decade.

In a day filled with emotion Tony was taken out on a final lifeboat exercise with his colleagues. The railings down to the lifeboat had been lined with banners and Tony’s family, including his wife Veronica, daughter Sonia, son Brian, son-in-law Kieran, daughter-in-law Louise and grandchildren Robyn, Hannah, Darragh, Joe and Harry were there to witness his final lifeboat exercise. On returning to shore after the short trip, which brought them out past Tuskar Rock, members and supporters of Rosslare RNLI lined the walkway back to the lifeboat station and Tony shook everyone’s hand to receive congratulations and good wishes for a well-deserved retirement.

A reception was held later that evening at Culletons in Kilrane where family, friends and lifeboat people gathered to pay tribute. RNLI Divisional Operations Manager Owen Medland presented Tony with his RNLI Certificate of Service, which detailed every position Tony had held in the charity, including the many years he acted as second mechanic. Rosslare RNLI Deputy Launching Authority and Lifeboat Press Officer Jamie Ryan was the evening’s MC and speakers on the night included Rosslare RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager David Maloney, Coxswain Eamon O’Rourke and representatives from the flanking lifeboat stations Kilmore Quay and Wexford RNLI with both Lifeboat Operations Manager Joe Maddock and Lifeboat Helm David Maguire paying their own tributes to Tony. Well known Rosslare resident Larry Dunne wrote a poem especially for the occasion.

Commenting on Tony’s retirement Rosslare Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager David Maloney said, ‘We wanted to mark this event properly as Tony has been such an important person in Rosslare RNLI. He is a lifeboat man through and through and while he was never afraid to tell it like it is, he always had the interests of the crew and the lifeboat at his heart. He is one of the first people you would want on the lifeboat on a bad night and we have all benefitted from his advice and counsel over the years. I know we are not losing that and Tony will be a regular and welcome visitor to our door.’

It was Tony’s friendship with former Rosslare RNLI mechanic Matt Wickham that brought him onto the lifeboat back in 1974. His great uncle was Coxswain on the lifeboat for several years and he was born and reared beside the watchbox in Rosslare Port.

Tony reminisced about the changes that had occurred in the RNLI over the past forty years including that now, thankfully, there is a full kit for every crewmember on the lifeboat. Tony said, ‘ Back when I first joined there was one set of kit for the crew who went out on the lifeboat and whoever got there first got the best pair of boots and if you took a big pair of boats and a bigger fella came after you, that was it. There were no pagers so if you didn’t hear the maroon go off someone rapped on your door and off you went.’

Asked about the callouts during his time on the lifeboat crew, Tony said that the one that stood out in his memory was in 1978 with Coxswain Seamus McCormack, who received a bronze medal for the rescue of two fishing crew. Tony added, ‘It was to a Cornish fishing boat, Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur, she sank out there on a bad day. I was the youngest on that callout at just 22 years old. The crew had been trying to get into Milford Haven and a storm came on then and they lost power. During the night while they were adrift they had fired whatever distress signals they could. It was around noon that day when they were burning some stuff in a drum on the deck and a freighter spotted them and raised the alarm and we were launched.’

‘The freighter made a bit of a lee for us and we got a couple of men off it and the RAF helicopter took one man off. We took them off in very difficult seas. It was a bad day with a bad sea and an old lifeboat but everyone was saved and the crew all stayed in Rosslare that night and departed on the ferry the next day.’

Tony’s parting words of advice for his lifeboat crew as he enjoys his well-deserved retirement were short and to the point, ‘Mind yourselves and look out for one another.’