#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's all-weather lifeboat launched yesterday afternoon (Sunday 19 June) to a solo sailor in distress six miles off the Wicklow coast.

A marine VHF radio distress signal was received by the Irish Coast Guard from the French sailor on passage from France to Norway, when the twin rudder of his yacht suffered damaged and he was unable to steer the vessel.

The lifeboat was alongside the casualty 30 minutes after launch. Rescue 116, the Dublin-based coastguard helicopter was also tasked to the incident, remaining overhead while lifeboat volunteer Ciaran Doyle was transferred onto the yacht to assist the sailor with hauling an anchor and preparing a towline.

Weather conditions at the time had a rough sea state with a southerly Force 5-6 wind and good visibility.

With a towline established, the 10m yacht was taken back to Wicklow Harbour. Due to the conditions at the time, the journey took over 90 minutes as the line parted on three occasions.

The yacht was safely alongside the south quay at 5pm on Sunday evening.

Speaking after the callout, Wicklow RNLI lifeboat press officer Tommy Dover said: "Our coxswain Nick Keogh displayed great boat handling skills this afternoon in challenging conditions, while safely transferring a crewmember onto the yacht to assist the lone sailor."

This was the second callout over the weekend. On Saturday morning (18 June), during the Round Ireland Yacht Race, Wicklow RNLI helm Vinnie Mulvihill was busy preparing the inshore lifeboat for exercise when he heard shouts that someone was in the water near the East Pier.

Quick-thinking Mulvihill left the boat and entered the water to assist the woman after she slipped and fell in while going ashore from a moored boat.

Woman rescued by Wicklow RNLI after she slipped into the harbour (Photo: RNLI/Milo Vanbeck)

He brought the women alongside a nearby boat and with the help of the occupants, she was taken out of the water and assessed at the lifeboat station by first aider Carol Flahive.

No further medical assistance was required and the woman left the station none the worse from her ordeal after a cup of tea and changing into dry clothes.

#RNLI - Arklow RNLI was called out early this morning (Sunday 19 June) to go the assistance of a casualty in difficulty near Arklow Harbour.

Within minutes of a pager alert at 6.23am, the lifeboat Ger Tigchlearr and her volunteer crew was launched to a report of a man in difficulty in the water outside the harbour.

As the lifeboat arrived on scene, a local fishing vessel had also come to the assistance of the casualty and had been trying with difficulty to get the man aboard the fishing boat.

The man was shortly thereafter recovered from the water by the fishermen and transferred to the Arklow lifeboat.

Casualty care was administered aboard the lifeboat, which then returned to station immediately to transfer the casualty to a waiting ambulance.

Following the callout, Arklow RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Mark Corcoran said: "We’re thankful to the skipper of the local fishing vessel for assistance in this rescue. Working together we were able to recover the casualty from the water. We would like to wish the casualty a speedy recovery."

#RNLI - Bangor RNLI assisted four people who got into difficulty on a broken-down motorboat on Belfast Lough on Monday evening (13 June).

The volunteer lifeboat crew launched at 10.25pm to rescue the 19ft motorboat just off the Cloghan Jetty.

The boat, with four people on board, had lost all power and was drifting in fog close to the shore.

Arriving at the scene, guided only by the light from a mobile phone, the crew of the relief Bangor lifeboat Tabby Cat took the motorboat under its control and returned it and its and crew safely to Carrickfergus Marina.

Speaking following the callout, Bangor RNLI helm Peter Semple said: :The crew and I are delighted that we were able to return these people to the safety of the marina. Although it was a calm night, it was dark, and Belfast Lough is not a great place to be if you can’t be seen.

"It is important to ensure that, if you lose all power you still have some way of being seen and making contact with the shore."

In other news from Bangor, the lifeboat station was recently visited by a man rescued a fortnight ago by one of its volunteers after he suffered a heart attack at sea.

Tim Bailie was on a weekend pleasure cruise between Carrickfergus and Bangor with his family at the end of May when he was taken ill.

But thanks to the quick action of helm Kyle Edwards and his crew, Bailie is still here to tell the tale in his own words, as per the video below:

#RNLI - Carrybridge RNLI attended three different incidents – one involving a fire – on Upper Lough Erne this past Saturday (11 June).

The inshore lifeboat and rescue wafer craft were initially tasked to a burning vessel at 6.08pm, two miles north of Belturbet. Both Belturbet and the NI Fire and Rescue Service were in attendance.

The four people onboard were safely removed from the boat by a passing vessel and brought to shore. The 25ft Bayliner later burnt itself out and sank into shallow waters close to the shoreline.

The volunteer crew were then tasked by Belfast Coastguard to a boat with engine problems 1.5 miles from Knockninny. The sports cabin cruiser and its four passengers and their dog were brought to safety at Knockninny Marina.

The third tasking saw Carrybridge RNLI going to a vessel that ran out fuel close to the Share Centre. The 22ft vessel and its passenger were brought to safety of the Share Centre Marina.

The lifeboat and rescue craft returned to station at 9.15pm.

Speaking following the callouts, Carrybridge RNLI helm Chris Cathcart said: "The crew of the burning vessel did the right thing by alerting the coastguard straight way when their vessel went on fire.

"They made sure they had their lifejackets on and evacuated their vessel to another passing vessel as soon as possible."

Cathcart also commended the crews of the further two vessels the lifeboat assisted for their quick thinking when they found themselves in danger.

"The importance of alerting the coastguard as soon as possible in all cases help saves lives and prevented the situation from developing into something more serious on all our callouts."

The busy evening for the volunteer crew was in the first weekend of the RNLI’s summer campaign #RespectTheWater that targets accidental drowning along Northern Ireland’s coastline and inland waterways.

Respect the Water urges the public to watch out for the key dangers that can catch people out in or near the water. The campaign which will run throughout the summer months aims to highlight the risk of accidental drowning when people are near the water’s edge while encouraging safer behaviour both in and around the water.

#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's all-weather lifeboat launched to give assistance to an English motor cruiser at 12.20pm yesterday (Sunday 12 June).

The cruiser, with five people on board, was on passage from Dun Laoghaire to Pembroke when it developed mechanical problems four miles south of Wicklow Harbour.

Just 15 minutes later, the lifeboat, under the command of coxswain Nick Keogh, was alongside the drifting cruiser. A towline was established and the volunteer crew brought the cruiser back to Wicklow.

This was the second callout out of the week for the Wicklow RNLI crew. On Wednesday morning, the all-weather lifeboat launched to assist a French yacht with three people on board that had its propeller fouled by a rope.

The crew of the yacht managed to free the rope obstruction and the lifeboat stood by until the yacht was able to resume its passage south.

Next Friday 17 June, Wicklow RNLI will hold a lifejacket clinic at the lifeboat station from 11am to 4pm in conjunction with the Round Ireland Sailfest.

Anyone who owns a lifejacket is encouraged to bring it along for a free check. Advice will also be available with tips on how to choose, fit and maintain your lifejacket.

#Diving - A man has died after getting into difficulty while diving off Ardmore in Co Waterford yesterday afternoon (Sunday 12 June).

Youghal RNLI's volunteer lifeboat crew were tasked to the incident between Goat Island and Ram Head near Ardmore, Co Waterford before 4.30pm.

On arrival they found a man in the water who they recovered onto the lifeboat, and immediately administered casualty care.

Working with Helvick Head RNLI, who were also on scene, the casualty was winched onto the Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 and brought to Waterford University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, as the Irish Examiner reports.

A spokesperson for Helvick Head RNLI that a second diver who had been with the deceased had managed to swim to shore to raise the alarm, allowing for a swift emergency response.

Commenting on the callout, Youghal RNLI lifeboat operations manager Fergus Hopkins said: "This was a difficult callout for everyone concerned and our thoughts are with the family of the man who was taken from the water this afternoon."

#RNLI - Volunteers with Portaferry RNLI went to the aid of three men on board a 4m dory who had become lost in thick fog close to Ballyhornan on the Co Down coast on Thursday (9 June).

At the time of launch at 4.45pm, the weather was extremely foggy with very poor visibility, a Force 2 southerly wind and smooth sea conditions.

The three men had become lost in the worsening conditions and were unsure of their exact location. Rather than try and guess their location, they called emergency services for help, giving a rough position as somewhere between Sheepland Harbour and Guns Island, just off the Co Down coast.

Portaferry RNLI headed towards the men’s general location and at first passed the three men in the thick fog. On arrival at Sheepland Harbour, however, the lifeboat crew started to track back towards Guns Island.

By this time the men on board the lost vessel had called the coastguard once more to report that they had heard the engines of the lifeboat passing by, helping to pinpoint their location.

The lifeboat crew arrived on scene close to Guns Island at 5.15pm, attaching a tow rope and proceeding to tow the boat into Ballyhornan Bay, where the three men went safely ashore before the lifeboat returned to station.

Following on the rescue, Portaferry RNLI lifeboat operations manager Brian Bailie said: "The three men made the correct decision when they called for help.

"They had become lost and disorientated in thick fog and rather than try to blindly find their own way to shore, they called for help and remained in the area they last believed they were.

"This made our job a lot easier and I am delighted that our volunteer crew have helped bring these men safely to shore."

The RNLI today launches its annual national drowning prevention campaign, Respect the Water, and this year the charity is warning the public to watch out for key dangers that can catch people out in or near water.

The campaign which will run throughout the summer months comes a week after the RNLI, the Coast Guard and Irish Water Safety issued a joint statement advising caution to those engaged in recreational activities in or near water during hot weather as the number of call outs rose sharply.

Respect the Water aims to highlight the risk of accidental drowning when people are near the coastline by encouraging safer behaviour both in and around the water. The campaign is primarily aimed at males aged between 16 and 39 but the same advice is relevant for anyone visiting the coast.

Coastal fatality figures released by the RNLI show that an average of 23 people die through accidental drowning around the coast of the Republic of Ireland each year.

The RNLI has joined with Irish Water Safety and the School of Psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, to develop a drowning fatalities database. The work of the group has found that between 2010 and 2013, 70 lives were lost around the coast of the Republic of Ireland through accidental drowning.

The RNLI is warning of the key dangers that can lead to accidental drowning - cold water, unexpected entry into the water, and rip currents and waves.

The campaign will reinforce the key message ‘Treat water with respect, not everyone can be saved’ on a range of channels throughout the Summer. These include a poster showing dramatic imagery of the hand of a drowning person reaching for a lifebuoy and hard-hitting cinema advertisements showing the unpredictability of the water and the dangers of cold water shock.

Speaking as Respect the Water was launched, Joe Moore, RNLI Community Incident Reduction Manager said: ‘We want everyone to enjoy the water. However, it is powerful and unpredictable and people need to treat it with respect. Each year RNLI lifeboat crews rescue hundreds of people around Ireland but sadly, not everyone can be saved. The real tragedy is that many of these deaths could have been prevented.

‘Cold water is a real killer, People often don’t realise how cold our waters can be – even in summer months the water temperature rarely exceeds 12 degrees, which is cold enough to trigger cold water shock. If you enter the water suddenly at that temperature, you’ll start gasping uncontrollably, which can draw water into your lungs and cause drowning. The coldness also numbs you, leaving you helpless – unable to swim or shout for help.

‘The fact that over half of the people who die around our coast each year never planned to enter the water serves as a warning to us all to stay away from cliff edges, particularly where there is slippery, unstable, unstable or uneven ground; stick to marked paths and keep an eye on the water – watch out for unexpected waves which can catch you out and sweep you into the water.

‘If you’re planning to enter the water be aware that, even if it looks calm on the surface, there can be strong rip currents beneath the surface, which can quickly drag you out to sea. The sea is powerful and can catch out even the strongest and most experienced swimmers.’

The charity is asking people to visit RNLI.org/RespectTheWater where they will find information on coastal hazards, how to keep themselves safe, and what to do should they someone else end up in trouble in the water. On social media search #RepectTheWater.

#RNLI - Bangor RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crew were called out yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 7 June) to assist in the rescue a woman who had fallen from the coastal path at Ballyholme Esplanade onto the rocky beach below.

The woman is believed to have fallen after the dog she was walking pulled on its lead and she over-balanced and slipped more than two metres to the rocky beach below.

Bangor RNLI relief lifeboat Tabby Cat was launched at 2:20pm and arrived on scene in Ballyholme Bay where NI Ambulance Service paramedics were treating the woman. They were later joined by the fire service and coastguard, who waited on standby in case their services were needed.

After the paramedics had stabilised the woman on the beach and were happy that she could be lifted, the decision was made to move her on a stretcher onto the lifeboat and take her to the jetty at Ballyholme Yacht Club, as this was considered safer than attempting the steps at the esplanade.

At the yacht club, the casualty was lifted up the jetty to the waiting ambulance and taken to Ulster Hospital.

Bangor RNLI helm Micky McKenna said: “The crew and I are delighted to have been able to assist this woman, and we wish her well with her recovery.”

#RNLI - Ballycotton RNLI was launched around 6pm yesterday (Sunday 5 June) to a yacht in difficulty 10 miles off the East Cork coastal village.

The 50ft yacht, carrying four people on board, got into difficulty when its propeller became wrapped in fishing nets 300 miles off the south coast of Ireland some three days previously.

Due to the calm, mild conditions, the yacht was unable to sail any further and had to call for assistance.

When the volunteer lifeboat crew with Ballycotton RNLI arrived at the scene, they secured the vessel, ensuring all members of the yacht were safe, before taking the yacht under tow to Crosshaven Harbour.

Speaking following the callout, Ballycotton lifeboat mechanic Peter O'Shea said: “Although the yacht was in no immediate danger, its crew kept in regular contact with the coastguard and when they came close enough to land they requested assistance and the Ballycotton RNLI was launched.

"By keeping in regular contact the outcome was positive for all involved and it ended well.”