Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users on Lough Ree on the Shannon Navigation that Red Conical No 616, north of Hare Island, has moved off station.

A temporary red navigation marker has been installed at this location. Masters of vessels are urged to proceed with additional caution in the area, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways adds.

Lough Ree RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew responded to a call for assistance to two fishermen in a lake boat who got into difficulties on the River Shannon in Athlone yesterday afternoon (Saturday 18 March). 

Responding to a request from the Irish Coast Guard, following an alarm raised by a member of the public, Lough Ree RNLI was tasked to assist two men on board a 19ft lake boat which was taking on water south of the Weir Wall on the River Shannon in Athlone town. 

Lough Ree RNLI inland lifeboat ‘Tara Scougall’ under volunteer helm Liam Sheringham, launched at 5.20 pm and reached the fishing boat in fifteen minutes. Following a rapid survey of the scene the lifeboat drew alongside the stricken fishing boat and volunteer crew Patrick Walsh, Paul Kelly and Billy Henshaw Jnr were rescued the two young men and took them on board the lifeboat. The two men were then transferred to the care of emergency services on the riverbank, and neither man suffered any ill effects from the ordeal.

Lough Ree RNLI volunteer helm Liam Sheringham thanked An Garda Siochana for their assistance in the rescue and reminded the general public that ‘the circular motion created in the water over the Weir Wall, especially when the river is in spate or flood creates a very difficult and dangerous environment for people and craft in the vicinity.’

Earlier on Saturday, Lough Ree RNLI had joined with Athlone Sub Aqua Club and Athlone River Safety Awareness just upstream of the weir wall to demonstrate emergency response procedures to the public.

This was the second call out of the year for Lough Ree RNLI; earlier this month (Friday, 3 March) the charity assisted two people on board a lake cruiser which had run aground after losing steerage near the N6 motorway bridge.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users on Lough Ree on the Shannon Navigation that the port-hand lateral marker on the south side of Inchmore Island is now back on station.

The temporary red buoy installed in early January has now been removed, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

Following the pre-Christmas warning over an off-station marker on the Shannon Navigation, Waterways Ireland advises that a temporary red marker has now been installed in the relevant area north of Athlone.

The temporary marker is in place of the port-hand lateral marker on the south side of Inchmore Island on Lough Ree.

Masters of Vessels should proceed with additional caution in the vicinity of the island, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

The year just ended was a significant one for Lough Ree RNLI, both on and off the water. 2022 witnessed the opening of the charity’s ‘state of the art’ lifeboat station while on the water the volunteer crew responded to 47 call-outs during the year.

Launching in all types of weather, daylight and darkness, the crew assisted 153 people in 2022 on board 45 boats. In two cases, assistance was given to members of the public who encountered difficulties in the waters of Lough Ree.

Lough Ree RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, Kevin Ganly, said: ‘the good news is that all of the calls to assistance had a positive outcome with all members of the public and the volunteer crews coming home safely.’ He concluded that: ‘the charity is entirely dependant on the public to support the operation on Lough Ree.’

Lough Ree RNLI welcomed 16 new volunteers in the past year and now has almost 50 people giving their time and skills to the charity’s operation at Coosan Point.

With 19 volunteers on the boat crew, the cost of equipment and training is a significant annual expense. While the initial cost of the charity’s lifeboat ‘Tara Scougall’ was €339k, to keep the boat in service for its lifetime will incur a total cost of €797k. The cost of kitting out a crew member is €4,167, while annual training for each volunteer on the crew is €1,667.

Lough Ree RNLI Treasurer, Vincent Rafter, said: ‘the charity is most grateful to the members of the public who made donations and organised fund-raising events for Lough Ree RNLI in 2022, especially the €100k raised locally for the new lifeboat station.’ He added that: ‘the continued support of the community around the lake, visitors to the midlands and annual donors to the RNLI in 2023 remained critical to the provision of the lifesaving service.’

This coming Thursday (5 January), Lough Ree RNLI hosts a fund-raising table quiz in The Bounty at Buccaneers R.F.C., Athlone at 7.30pm. Tables of four cost €40 and the charity looks forward to welcoming back friends and supporters after the hiatus caused by the pandemic.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users the Shannon Navigation at Lough Ree that a port hand lateral marker on the south side of Inchmore Island is currently off station.

Masters of vessels should proceed with additional caution in the vicinity of Inchmore Island north of Athlone until further notice.

As the festive season draws near, the volunteers at Lough Ree RNLI are throwing open the doors of the lifeboat station at Coosan Point for a special Christmas sale next Saturday afternoon (26 November).

RNLI Christmas cards are central to the charity’s fundraising drive at this time of year. Always high on the shopping list of supporters, the Christmas cards and other RNLI merchandise will be on sale at the new lifeboat station on Saturday afternoon next from 1pm.

Lough Ree RNLI treasurer Vincent Rafter said: “The public support of the charity and its volunteers are crucial for the organisation. So far this year Lough Ree RNLI volunteer crew has responded to 47 call outs on the lake.

“Over the past two years RNLI fundraising in the Midlands has been focussed on the provision of the new lifeboat station which opened in June. The facility itself is fast becoming a major attraction in the area with volunteers hosting planned visits every month.”

Recently the volunteer crew were pleased to receive an encouraging note of thanks, following a visit from a young girl in Athlone.

Eliza Crosbie (9) from Retreat Heights was part of a group from St Ciaran’s NS, Baylin who visited the lifeboat station recently. In her letter she expressed an interest in helping the charity in any way and perhaps making use of her life saving skills. The letter was accompanied by a colourful drawing of the lifeboat on the water.

Station visits officer at Lough Ree RNLI, Paul Kelly said: “The visits are a new initiative for us and this is one of the first responses we have received. The future of the RNLI is assured with the enthusiasm Eliza and her friends have expressed for the organisation.“”

So impressed were the Lough Ree RNLI volunteer crew with the letter that they invited Eliza to the station this week for a personal tour. Paul and Lough Ree RNLI operations manager Kevin Ganly made a small presentation to Eliza to mark the occasion.

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels and waterway users on the Shannon Navigation that jetty upgrade works at Coosan Point on Lough Ree are under way as of Tuesday 25 October.

Originally set to continue to next Wednesday 2 November, the works were completed ahead of schedule on Friday 28 October.

The jetty lights that were turned off to facilitate these works have now operating again, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways confirmed.

Elsewhere, re-decking of the floating jetties in Dromineer on Lough Derg will commence on Tuesday 1 November.

Security fencing will be erected around the front of the gangway to restrict access onto the floating jetties for the duration of the works, which are expected to take around six weeks to complete.

This story was updated on Friday 28 October to note the early completion of works at Coosan Point.

Lough Ree RNLI marked a significant milestone on Monday (17 October) when a cheque for €100,000 was presented as the local community contribution to the overall €1.2m cost of the new lifeboat station on a site donated by the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland.

The presentation was made by Michael Ganly, chairman of the Lough Ree RNLI Appeal Committee to Anna Classon, the RNLI’s regional head for Ireland.

On her first visit to the new lifeboat station, which was opened this past June, Classon said she was “really impressed by the partnership between the RNLI and the IWAI and to see two great organisations sharing resources for the benefit of the community”.

The community contribution was the result of a fundraising campaign which ran for more than 12 months and was supported by community groups, the corporate sector and a host of individuals for the lakeside community and beyond.

Presenting the cheque, Ganly said: “The work of people like committee secretary Pauline Irwin and all others involved was crucial to the success of the venture.”

The new lifeboat station has been very active this year and has been a particular asset to the 46 volunteer crew as the charity and its lifeboat Tara Scougall have responded to 46 callouts in the year to date.

Reflecting on the successful fundraising campaign, Lough Ree RNLI treasurer Vincent Rafter thanked “all the GoFundMe campaigns, tests of endurance and anonymous donors who contributed amounts large and small to this special community initiative”.

Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels and users on the Shannon Navigation that the Coosan Point jetties on Lough Ree will be closed from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 October for improvement works.