As the RNLI comes to the end of its milestone 200th year, the charity is launching its annual Christmas fundraising appeal, with a focus on the volunteer crew members who are preparing to spend Christmas on call.
On average, RNLI lifeboats across Ireland and the UK launch over 100 times during the Christmas period every year. Whatever weather winter throws at them, RNLI crews are ready to battle the elements to save lives at sea.
These rescues, and others all year round, are only made possible by the RNLI’s generous supporters, helping to fund the essential kit, training and equipment needed to keep crews prepared and protected.
Christmas is a time for family and friends, but the RNLI’s volunteer crews are ready to leave their own celebrations this festive season and answer the call for help.
Among the crew members preparing for a Christmas on call are husband and wife Richard and Laura Gillespie from Bundoran RNLI.
Laura and Richard Gillespie pictured with children Matthew, Eibhlin and Darragh | Credit: RNLI/Bundoran
The lifeboat has always been a part of family life for Laura. Her father Joe McNulty was one of the founders of the original Bundoran Inshore Rescue Service before it became Bundoran RNLI 30 years ago, in 1994. Joe is now the station treasurer while Laura’s brother Kealan is a helm.
Laura joined the crew in 2012 while Richard, following in the footsteps of his brother Brian — who has over 30 years’ experience volunteering in the Bundoran station — became a crew member a couple of years earlier in 2010 and helm in 2020.
It was Laura’s father Joe who inspired her to get involved, she says. “From when I was small, I have been down at the lifeboat station. I grew up with it. I remember as a child after there was a storm and a bit of damage to the station, the lifeboat was stored in our garage for a period, and I would go out to play on it.”
With Richard and Laura now having three young children of their own, responding to the pager adds a new dynamic to both lifeboat and family life.
And as for what Laura finds most rewarding about being involved, she says: “I think it is the camaraderie among the station team that I enjoy most but also seeing the impact and how grateful people are when we do carry out a rescue. Sometimes we respond and it’s a small thing for us in our day, but when families come back and visit to say thanks it is then you realise the difference we make as volunteers.”
Orlagh and Francis Blake-Dillon | Credit: RNLI/Achill Island
In Mayo, among those readying for the festive season are brother and sister Brandon and Kayley Geraghty at Ballyglass RNLI and husband and wife Francis and Orlagh Blake-Dillon at Achill Island RNLI.
Kayley (19) and Brandon (22) joined the crew together earlier this year, following older brothers Ryan and Kyle. Francis and Orlagh, meanwhile, are originally from Dublin but made the move to Mayo following the Covid pandemic.
“We joined the team in Achill Island about nine months ago,” Orlagh says, “and the training under coxswain Dave Curtis has been beyond good. We received our pagers on Friday (29 November) and I had my first call-out on Monday (2 December). It was to a medical evacuation off Clare Island.
“When my pager went off for the first time, I nearly fell out of the bed, my heart was racing.” But once she got to the station and was briefed by the coxswain, she says: “From there it went smoothly as the training and the brief kicked in as you know what you need to do.”
For Kayley, it was growing up on the water and then watching her older brother Ryan run out of the house to respond to his pager that inspired her to get involved with the lifeboat in Ballyglass.
As she looks ahead to her first Christmas carrying a pager, Kayley says she’s ready: “I know for the crew there’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families — especially at Christmas.”
Adam Sweeney pictured on Ama Dablam in the Himalayas | Credit: RNLI/Dunmore East
In Dunmore East, resident adventurer Adam Sweeney is settling in having returned to Ireland last Tuesday (3 December) on his 21st birthday after summiting Ama Dablam in the Himalayas.
Part of an all-Irish team made up of seven mountaineers, Adam was the only member of the team to make it successfully to the summit of the Himalaya's most challenging peaks, which stands at 6,812 metres.
Adam is on a journey with an ambition to become the youngest Irish person to climb Mount Everest, a mammoth challenge he plans to take on in 2026.
For now, though, he is back in Dunmore East and planning for another Christmas on call. Adam says it is rewarding to be involved: “I think the reward is the sense of community, it is so nice to see the community get together and the rescues are huge. It is a great feeling to be able to help bring someone back to their family, there is a great sense of achievement in that for everyone at the station.”
The women of Fethard RNLI: (back row from left) Siani Blanchfield, Clara Bracken, Rebecca Doyle and Eileen Murphy with (front row from left) Natasha Blanchfield, Tricia Rice and Nadia Blanchfield | Credit: RNLI/Fethard
At Fethard RNLI, the seven women across the lifeboat and shore crews include trainee Rebecca Doyle. A long-serving volunteer on the fundraising side, Rebeca is also the station’s safety officer and a former press officer. But last year she decided to join the lifeboat crew.
“My late dad John Doyle led the charge to fundraise for a lifeboat and to get the station in Fethard re-opened in 1995,” Rebecca says. “He became the first honorary secretary as it was known then, now the lifeboat operations manager. My earliest memory as a child was emptying out the coins from the bucket following the church collections - fundraising for the lifeboat was always a part of home life.”
Rebecca adds: “Being on the lifeboat crew was something I always wanted to do and with a career change last year, I found more time to do the training. Because we operate around the Hook Peninsula from New Ross to Kilmore Quay, our lifeboat has 12 different launching sites. As part of the crew training, I need to complete an exercise at each. I have one more to do and I will then be ready to respond to my first call-out.”
Family ties: Gerald Jr, Gerald and Barry Sharkey at Clogherhead RNLI | Credit: RNLI/Nigel Millard
While Rebecca looks forward to her first rescue mission, in Clogherhead coxswain Gerald Sharkey is preparing for his final Christmas on call.
A crew member for the last 35 years and a coxswain for 15, Gerald will retire from his seagoing role in July 2025.
Gerald has seen many changes over the years, most notably the intensity in training as the lifeboats the station operated became faster and more sophisticated. He recalls a time when the crew in Clogherhead predominantly comprised fishermen in the community but how now there are very few among the team as people from all walks of life volunteer, train and acquire the skills required to save lives at sea.
While he can now look forward to a break from the pager, Gerald says he will miss the camaraderie that comes with being on the crew.
“When you carry a pager, it is always on your mind,” he says. “It is a bit like watching the speedometer in your car; it is there, and you are watching it. I will miss the craic and the social side of things; we are a bit like a football team, and it is not serious all the time.”
But Gerald will also relish the satisfaction from playing his part: “I recall a rescue out to a chap who was a windsurfer when he got into difficulty round the head, and we picked him up. When we were coming back, I remember seeing his wife and young child who would have been about the age to start school, and it was rewarding to know you were bringing him back to them.
“It has also been good to be there for people when things go wrong. Very often when a boat gets into difficulty, it is not just one problem but two or three and it is nice to be in a position to help.”
Kayley Geraghty at Ballyglass sums it up for everyone when she says: “Even at this time of year, people still get in trouble in the water, and all RNLI crews are prepared to leave our own celebrations to help others.
“But as volunteer lifeboat crew we couldn’t launch without kind donations from the public which fund the kit, training and equipment we need to save others and get home safely to our own families.”
To make a donation to the RNLI’s Christmas Appeal, and enable the charity to continue its lifesaving work, visit RNLI.org/WinterAppeal.
