#LIFEBOAT – Bundoran RNLI lifeboat were tasked this evening (Saturday, 11 February) to a surfer who was said to be in difficulty at the main beach.

An telephone call was made to Malin Head Coast Guard by a concerned member of the public around 5.45pm who believed the surfer to be in trouble in the water. Bundoran lifeboat was immediately tasked and were on the scene within minutes of the initial call. The sea was calm and there was very little wind so conditions were favourable. Other members of the volunteer lifeboat crew were also dispatched to the beach.

The lifeboat crew commenced the search of the main beach area and also at Roguey Rocks when it was subsequently ascertained that the surfer had made their way to shore. The lifeboat was then stood down and returned to station.

Deputy Launching Authority with Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat Patrick McMorrow said afterwards 'the caller was absolutely right to call the Coast Guard if he believed someone to be in trouble in the water – the lifeboat is there to save lives at sea and we would rather be called out to keep minds at ease than have someone ignored in the water – Bundoran RNLI lifeboat is on call 24 hours a day all year round. As always, sea safety advice is available online at the charity's website www.rnli.ie '

#LIFEBOAT – The annual fundraising dinner in aid of Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat was held on Wednesday, 8 February, at The Grain Store, Ballymaloe, in East Cork, with special guest, Phil Coulter.

Tickets sold out well in advance of the event, with the proceeds going towards the RNLI's, Lifejackets for Lifesavers, appeal. The RNLI have designed innovative lifejackets in consultation with their lifeboat crew members and are due to replace all lifejackets in every lifeboat station in Ireland later this year. Events are being run to fund this and the event at The Grain Store, Ballymaloe, will be used to fund the replacement of lifejackets at Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat station.

In her speech, Ms. Fiona Flynn, Chairman of the Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat fundraising committee, welcomed the guests to the event. She informed them that RNLI lifeboats responded to over 980 calls for assistance in 2011, rescuing over 900 persons. Ballycotton lifeboat launched 14 times in 2011, 7 of which were night time rescues. She explained that the volunteer crew at Ballycotton spent 170 hours at sea during these shouts and a further 560 hours on training exercises. When Ms. Flynn finished, Rory Allen then welcomed the special guest of the evening, Phil Coulter.

To check the guests' vocals the evening's entertainment was opened with a rousing rendition of Ireland's Call. Phil Coulter sang a few more songs before introducing an array of amazing entertainers. The first on stage was Christine Moran, a 13 year old from Aghada. She wowed the audience with her rendition of Danny Boy, accompanied on the piano by the maestro himself. Following a second song from Christine, Deirdre Casey from Shanagarry took to the stage. She was followed by dance duo, Keith & Futo. Aghada's answer to West Life took to the stage in the guise of Eddie & Paddy, accompanied by Rory Allen on guitar. In between their two songs, Paddy kept the audience entertained with his stories.

Michael Cahill and Shannon Burke showed their Irish dancing skills before Roisin Donohoe took to the stage with her harp. This 15 year old, Junior Certificate student from Kinsale, amazed the audience with her skill on the harp. Before she left the stage she set her harp aside to sing unaccompanied. Roisin's proud mother later told a guest she also plays the viola and had actually won a competition earlier that day. The Armani Acrobats rounded up that section of the entertainment.

Following the presentation of the Ballycotton Lifeboats book, Ballycotton Lifeboats, 150 Years of Gallantry, by Fiona Flynn to Phil Coulter a very enjoyable evening was finished up when all those who participated in the entertainment returned to the stage and joined in with the guests to sing Home from the Sea, under the direction and musical accompaniment of Phil Coulter.

An impromptu traditional session then commenced with a couple of guests observed dancing to the music. A very enjoyable evening was had by all and a general reluctance by some to end their night out.

#RESCUE – Lifeboat crew with Howth RNLI spent over ten hours on Saturday (4 February 2012) assisting a 17 metre fishing tralwer, with seven crew onboard, 36 miles north east of Howth, which was rapidly taking on water.

Howth RNLI were requested to launch their all weather lifeboat to the fishing vessel at 1.08 pm on Saturday afternoon and it would be nearly ten and a half hours later when they returned to the harbour with the casualty vessel under tow.

The Irish Coast Helicopter were also on scene to help the stricken vessel and a winchman delivered a salvage pump onboard to help the crew try and staunch the water.  With the lifeboat on scene the Coast Guard helcopter returned to base and the lifeboat crew worked quickly to establish a tow in difficult conditions.  Weather was force six with a strong southerly wind.

Keeping the casualty vessel under tow in bad conditions proved challenging and the rope parted a couple of times.  Sixteen miles north east of Howth the fishing crew reported that the water coming into the vessel was increasing and the tow was stopped.  A lifeboat crewmember was transferred onto the fishing trawler and a new salvage pump was put onboard.  The source of the leak was identified and action taken to stem the flow of water.  The lifeboat once again undertook the tow and eventually arrived into Howth harbour at 10.25pm.  All crew onboard the fishing vessel were unhurt.

Commenting on the callout Howth RNLI crewmember Dave Howard said, " This was a long callout for our all weather lifeboat crew.  Condtions were not great offshore and going from the lifeboat onto the casualty vessel in a two to three metre swell was very challenging.  However when a fishing vessel reports taking on water, it is vital to make sure that the crew are safe and that the tow does not part.  We are relieved that all crew got home safe."

#LIFEBOATS – While RNLI beach lifeguards take a break from life-saving on the North coast of Northern Ireland, RNLI Lifeguard Supervisor Tim Doran, originally from Armagh and living in Portstewart, along with his colleague Ross Macleod, RNLI Beach Safety Programme Manager, were busy teaching others (pictured above) how to save lives thousands of miles away in Cameroon.

The two lifeguards were part of a joint international project between the RNLI and the Swimming Teachers Association (STA).  Its aim was to reduce the loss of life by drowning in Cameroon.  This is a coastal country where eighty percent of the population cannot swim and drowning at sea and in lakes is a daily occurrence.

Tim Doran and Ross MacLeod, whose father hails from Holywood, County Down, along with Gary Seghers, Qualifications Development Manager at STA held a week long course which trained twenty local people from across Cameroon to become swimming and water safety instructors.  The course took place in the coastal town of Kribi and is the first of its kind ever run in the country.  It is one of the first projects of its kind to be run by RNLI lifeguards and the plan is to roll out more.

As an RNLI lifeguard supervisor in Northern Ireland Tim Doran is used to training recruits in life-saving so the challenge of bringing it to Cameroon was one he couldn't pass up.  "The RNLI is a charity that places a high value on training and safety with both its lifeguards and volunteer lifeboat crews.  It was amazing to be able to go to a country like Cameroon and to put the skills we have been taught into practice.  There is obviously a huge difference between the two countries but the basics of life-saving are the same no matter where you live.  We have taught a small group in Africa to save lives, who will in turn go on to train others how to swim and be safe in the water.  That is an incredible feeling."

As well as delivering the training, the RNLI have also donated some of their old equipment and first aid supplies to the group.  The RNLI and STA will keep in touch with the life-savers to see how they are getting on with their training. Tim and his RNLI lifeguard colleagues will be back on Northern Ireland beaches along the North coast from June.

#RESCUE - The Irish Times reports that the search has resumed for a fisherman who fell overboard from a trawler in the Irish Sea yesterday.

The crewman of the Kilkeel-registered fishing vessel Zenith was reported missing some nine miles (14.5km) off Clogherhead, Co Louth.

Yesterday afternoon the Irish Coast Guard and Clogherhead RNLI began an air and sea search and rescue effort, assisted by coastguard helicopter and other lifeboats and vessels in the area.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#ANGLING - Strongs winds and heavy seas weren't enough to dampen the spirits of the anglers taking part in the Courtown Sea Anglers RNLI fundraising event last Sunday, the Gorey Guardian reports.

Top winner on the day in the shore angling competition at Kilgorman beach was James Ryan from New Ross, who hooked an impressive 24 fish - all of which went back in the water under catch-and-release rules.

Anglers from Galway, Belfast, Clare, Wicklow, Dublin, Waterford and across Wexford took part. It is hoped that more than €4,200 was raised to support the Courtown lifeboat.

#MCIB - The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has recommended a ministerial review of stability standards for fishing vessels following its report into the death of a crab fisherman off Co Cork in January last year.

Gerry Hegarty drowned after a wave struck the crab boat Carraig An Iasc, which was fully loaded with crab pots at the time, causing it to capsize and sending its two-man crew into the water.

Hegarty, who was not wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) or other buoyancy aid, got into difficulty while attempting to swim ashore with his crewmate and skipper James Fitzgerald, who subsequently raised the alarm.

Lifeboats from Ballycotton and Crosshaven, as well as Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117, were tasked to the incident. Divers from Naval Service vessel LE Emer located the sunken crab boat but no body was found.

A coastguard search of the area continued over a number of days without success. Hegarty's body was eventually recovered on 17 February 2011 at Ringabella Strand in Co Cork.

The MCIB found it probable that the Carraig An Iasc encountered wind or wave action or a combination of both that caused the vessel to heel to an angle beyond which it was able to recover from its loaded condition. The vessel's Code of Practice Declaration of Compliance was valid until 15 July 2013.

The board noted that there have been "a number of incidents caused by overloading boats thus effecting stability", and recommended that the Minister for Transport reviews and revises the stability standards in the current Code of Practice to improve these standards.

It was also recommended that a safety notice be issued to all skippers and owners in the fishing fleet reminding them of their legal responsibility to ensure that all their crew wear PFDs or lifejackets while on deck.

The full report is available to download as a PDF from the MCIB website HERE.

#NEWS UPDATE - The Irish couple rescued from the stricken cruise liner off the Italian coast have spoken of their joy to be back home safe and sound.

Séamus Moore (52) and his wife Carol (50) from Clonmel were greeted by their three children at Dublin Airport yesterday, just two days after the Costa Concordia struck a sandbank and capsized off Tuscany.

“It was a difficult experience but at the end of the day it worked out very well for most people," Carol told The Irish Times. "It’s really, really a relief to be home.”

Commenting on the events of Friday night, Séamus likened their experiences on the sinking cruise ship to the film Titanic.

“When we were sitting on the side of the ship I said to her ‘now we know what Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett felt like’ and she said ‘well at least Kate lived’."

As the boat listed, it also struck Séamus that while "everything was crashing one way, then the next, the one thing I did notice is that the piano player kept playing."

The couple were removed from the ship by lifeboat in the early hours of Saturday and looked after by the staff at the Irish Embassy in Rome before their return.

They were among some 4,000 passengers on the cruise ship, most of whom were rescued within hours of the incident. Six people are confirmed dead following the disaster, with more than 60 injured and 16 people still missing.

The captain of the 114,500-tonne vessel was arrested on Saturday accused of manslaughter and of abandoning ship before all passengers and crew had been evaculated.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#GLANDORE SEARCH – The Naval Vessel LE Niamh has joined up to 18 other vessels including lifeboats from Baltimore and Courtmacsherry and a large fleet of up to 18 fishing vessels in a bid to locate five men missing from a trawler that ran aground off the Cork coast earlier this morning. The Naval Service have also sent a diving team, who were engaged in a search for a missing person in the River Corrib in Galway, to the scene.

As reported earlier today, the 40–foot fishing vessel the Tit Bonhomme sank in heavy seas close to Adam and Eve Island at the entrance to Union Hall harbour at around 6am.

One crewman, who is Egyptian, was rescued from the sea by a Coastguard helicopter.

His five crewmates, two from Ireland, three from Egypt, are still missing.

The Examiner has more here and  images of wreckage from RTE news here

#BUNDORAN RESCUE – On Saturday 14th January, following a distress call, Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat were tasked to assist a surfer in trouble at Tullan Strand, Bundoran.

The surfer got into difficulty around 4pm after his surf board snapped during a session on a busy afternoon at Bundoran's second beach. His friend immediately called the emergency services and Bundoran Lifeboat Crew were tasked to the scene. Launching within six minutes of the initial page, the crew were on scene within minutes by which time the surfer had made his way to shore safely. The lifeboat was then stood down.

Malin Head Coast Guard also tasked the Rescue 118 Helicopter from Sligo to the scene who arrived shortly afterwards. Volunteer crew members from Bundoran Lifeboat who made their way to Tullan Strand on land, spoke with the surfer to evaluate whether further medical attention was required.

Bundoran Lifeboat Training Coordinator Shane O'Neill who attended to the surfer said 'Thankfully, following his surfboard being snapped the surfer was able to make his way back to shore safely. However his friend was absolutely correct to call the emergency services as he believed he was in trouble. Bundoran Lifeboat is on call 24 hours a day seven days a week and are always ready to respond to an emergency'