#LIFEBOATS - Two teens were rescued from rocks off north Co Derry on Wednesday afternoon, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

The 13-year-old boys were stranded by the incoming tide in the East Promenade area of Portstewart.

PSNI officers called to the scene around 4.30pm managed to persuade one of the boys to cross to the shore, but the coastguard was tasked to lift the other boy from the rocks by the RNLI, according to UTV News.

Police inspector Mick Wood said that the incident "serves as a reminder to us that tides are extremely unpredictable".

#rnli – Castletownbere lifeboat crew responded to an early morning callout on Saturday when they launched at 5am to reports that a Spanish fishing trawler had grounded at Ard na Kinna on the western point of Bere Island in Cork.  The 33 metre vessel had eleven crewmembers onboard.

The Castletownbere lifeboat under Coxswain Brian O'Driscoll pulled up alongside the grounded vessel and assisted some of the crew onboard the lifeboat.  Images taken from the RNLI lifeboat camera show the transfer and the crew were safely evacuated. They had not sustained any injuries during the incident.

Commenting on the callout Paul Stevens Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat press officer said, "None of the crew were in any immediate danger but for their own safety we evacuated them from the grounded vessel.  They are very fortunate that they sustained no injuries and that conditions were excellent at the time of the grounding."

The vessel was successfully refloated at 4pm yesterday.

#LIFEBOATS - Holyhead RNLI's all-weather lifeboat was dispatched late on Wednesday night (24 October) in response to a distress call from a yacht in the Irish Sea.

The volunteer crew received the request from Holyhead Coastguard after a mayday call from the skipper of a 24-yacht off the northwest coast of Anglesey in North Wales.

The man, who was the only person aboard the vessel, was on his way to the Canary Islands when he made the call for assistance. 

A helicopter from RAF Valley stood by the casualty until the lifeboat crew arrived to rescue him and tow his vessel back to Holyhead.


The yacht reportedly started to sink as it was towed into Holyhead harbour, but the lifeboat crew managed to secure the vessel alongside the boatyard slip.

#lifeboat – A pan pan message was sent out and the Ballycotton lifeboat crew pagers were activated this afternoon for a capsized sailing dinghy.

The alert was for a capsized sailing dinghy one mile north east of Ballycotton lighthouse with one person on board. The lifeboat crew assembled at the lifeboat station and the Ballycotton lifeboat, Austin Lidbury, was launched.

The lone sailor was located within minutes sitting on the hull of the upturned 14 foot dinghy. He was wearing a dry suit which helped to keep him warm while he waited for help to arrive. He was taken on board the Ballycotton lifeboat. Attempts were made to right the dinghy but these were unsuccessful. It was decided to take the dingy under tow into a more sheltered position in Ballycotton bay.

The Ballycotton lifeboat boarding boat joined the all weather lifeboat and a further attempt was made to right the sailing dinghy, which was successful. The dinghy was bailed out and towed into Ballycotton harbour where it was placed on moorings.

#rnli – Courtmacsherry RNLI in West Cork has rescued two people from a stricken yacht which had been at sea for 14 days. Volunteer lifeboat crew was requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 4.40pm yesterday evening (Tuesday, 9 October) to go to the aid of the 43ft yacht that had got into difficulties five miles south of the Seven Heads in West Cork.

The lifeboat under acting Coxswain Micheal Hurley, mechanic Tadgh McCarthy and a crew of five arrived on scene and located the causality at 5.10pm.

The vessel was on passage from the Azores to Kinsale when it got into difficulties. It had been making its journey to its original destination of Falmouth in terrible weather including the Hurricane Nadin.

In the few days previous, the crew had to change direction and destination towards Kinsale due to the strong winds.

The lifeboat took the causality in tow and brought the yacht back to Courtmacsherry.

The stricken vessel's crew were delighted to be on safe land in Courtmacsherry where they were subsequently made comfortable at the lifeboat station.

#lifeboat – Dun Laoghire RNLI and Howth RNLI are organising a walk and cycle around Dublin Bay on Sunday 21 October.

Participants will set off from Dun Laoghire Lifeboat Station on the south of Dublin Bay and from Howth Lifeboat Station on the north. Walkers will set off at 11.30 am and cyclists will start at 12.30 pm. The two routes will follow along the coast roads meeting in the middle at Poolbeg Yacht Club for entertainment and refreshments. There is no entry fee, but sponsorship forms are available on request and donations are welcome.

Registration will take place from 10.30am at each lifeboat station. Participants can register their interest at [email protected] or text their name and contact details to 0872886795 (Howth start) or 0863895006 (Dun Laoghaire start).

Funds raised will help to supply our lifeboat crews with the best equipment available to ensure their safety when saving lives at sea.

#RESCUE - A lifeguard at Galway's Leisureland has been praised for his part in the rescue of a canoeist who got into difficulty in the water off Salthill, as The Connacht Sentinel reports.

Ian Brennan raced to the water after a woman looking across from the Galway Bay Hotel spotted the man in trouble a few hundred yards from the shore and raised the alarm.

The Leisureland duty manager, a former competitive swimmer with experience in water safety, said he didn't think twice about the incident.

"I grabbed a ring buoy, ran across the road, stripped down to my boxers and swam to the person," he said.

Brennan managed to swim ashore with the canoeist as Galway's RNLI lifeboat was being dispatched to the scene.

He also commended the lifeboat crew "for the speed at which they launched" and for their quick treatment of the canoeist for hypothermia.

Despite the applause he received from onlookers once back on land, Brennan described his actions as "no big deal".

The Connacht Sentinel has more on the story HERE.

#rnli – Diageo Northern Ireland announced that it raised a total of £17,390 for its charity partner, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The staff at Bushmills Distillery participated in a number of fundraising events, ranging from the company's annual barrel roll to running the Belfast Marathon, all in aid of its chosen charity partner. The employees raised £8,965 which was then doubled by Diageo NI through a match-funding initiative.

The staff at the Distillery invited volunteer crew members from Portrush RNLI station to receive the cheque and to have a tour of the premises.

Gordon Donoghue, Bushmills Site Director said

'As part of an on-going commitment to investing in our communities, Bushmills employees and the local community have once again shown great generosity in raising such a huge sum for the RNLI. Diageo NI is proud to have carried out the substantial fundraising effort and we hope the funds raised will go some way towards saving lives at sea."

Robin Cardwell Lifeboat Operations Manager at Portrush said:

The crew were delighted to receive this cheque on behalf of the RNLI. We are overwhelmed at the generosity of Diageo NI and were very proud to be the nominated charity partner for the Distillery this year. The RNLI depends on these funds to train our volunteer crews and to maintain our equipment to the highest standards so we can continue to save lives at sea.

After the presentation the crew were given a tour of the premises and met staff who had participated in the fundraising events.

#rnli –  At a special ceremony held  in Galway on Saturday the RNLI officially named its new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Binny, at its station on the city's harbour.  Pat Lavelle, Chair of the Lifeboat Management Group, handed over the lifeboat to the RNLI on behalf of the donor who had generously funded it through a gift left in her Will.

Audrey Lydia Finch from Devon funded the lifeboat which has been on service on Galway Bay since last year, in memory of her first husband Jack Binstead (Binny).

Mr Lavelle, a founding member of the Galway RNLI station, and a former Lifeboat Operations Manager, officially named the lifeboat during the ceremony.

The new state of the art Atlantic 85 lifeboat was introduced into the RNLI fleet in 2006. The lifeboat is 8.5 metres in length and weighs 1.9 tonnes.  Improvements on its predecessor include a faster top speed of 35 knots, radar, provision for a fourth crewmember and more space for survivors.

Since the new lifeboat went on service in Galway, it has already launched 19 times and brought 10 people to safety.

Mike Swan, Galway RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, said the naming ceremony and service of dedication was a special occasion in the history of the Galway lifeboat station, adding that the volunteer crew is grateful to Mrs Finch for her generous legacy which funded the lifeboat.

He said the RNLI could not operate its lifeboats without the dedication of volunteer lifeboat crew and fundraisers: 'The crew in Galway give 100% at all times. Their commitment and ongoing attendance for training both here and at the lifeboat college means that they are highly proficient in the operation of our lifeboat.  Further testament to the dedication of the crew is their knowledge that they may risk their own lives in the service of others'.

At a cost of €244,000 to fund the Atlantic 85 today, Mr Swan said legacy funding which in Galway's case had paid for the lifeboat, was of huge importance to the RNLI.

'As a charity, the RNLI relies on the generosity of the public for voluntary contributions and legacies. We are indebted to the fundraising support we receive to continuously train and equip our volunteer lifeboat crew here in Galway'.

It was following a number of incidents on Galway Bay that the decision was taken back in 1990 by the local RNLI committee that a lifeboat based in Galway would be invaluable. In 1994, it was announced that a B Class Atlantic 21 would be placed on a year's trial in Galway.

A temporary boathouse was built in 1996 and a temporary cabin arrived to serve as a crew room. Training continued until 27 March that year when the Galway lifeboat was officially put on service.

It was to be a busy start for the station's volunteer crew and it became the third busiest lifeboat station in Ireland that year.

A permanent boathouse was built in 1997 providing facilities for the lifeboat, a changing/drying room, workshop, fuel store, crew training room and an operational room. In that same year, a B class Atlantic 75 lifeboat B-738 RNLB Dochas was placed on service.

It was replaced by Binny, a B class Atlantic 85 lifeboat which was placed on service in 2011.

Mr Swan said: 'The rescue services on Galway Bay at the moment, I believe, are the best they have ever been. We are delighted to have representatives from all the other agencies here today. The training and dedication of the personnel in these services are second to none and I would like to thank them for making Galway Bay a safer place'.

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

Among the guests were John Coyle, the President of Galway Lifeboat Station, who welcomed guests and opened proceedings and who later, in his capacity as Chair of the Irish RNLI Council, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI. Music including the national anthem at the beginning of the ceremony was provided by St. Patrick's Band while Gareth Phillips sang Galway Bay and Home from the Sea.

MC for the event was Barry Heskin, a Deputy Launching Authority at Galway RNLI. The Very Reverend Richard A Lyny and Archdeacon Gary Hastings conducted the Service of Dedication.

#rnli – A 'Pan Pan' radio call to Valentia Coast Guard resulted in the Crosshaven Lifeboat being tasked to a medical emergency on board a Yacht off Cork Harbour today.

At 1.30pm, the Crosshaven RNLI crew were informed that an adult male was suffering chest pains on board a yacht, south of Roches Point.

The lifeboat with Con Crowley, Aidan O'Connor and Alan Venner on board made their way towards the casualty boats position and rendezvous with a yacht club RIB which now had the casualty on board.

The crew administered oxygen therapy whilst on route back to the lifeboat station where the Lifeboat Station Doctor,John Murphy was waiting.

After an assessment by the Doctor in the lifeboat station, the casualty was removed by ambulance to hospital.

Crosshaven Coast Guard personnel, also assisted at the lifeboat station.