#RNLI - Neville Murphy of Dunmore East lifeboat station has been named the RNLI's Photographer of the Year for 2012.

The public came out in force on Facebook to vote for 'The Calm', his shot of heavy weather jackets hanging in the locker room at the Waterford station as the best out of 12 stunning images selected for the shortlist.

Murphy, a native of Skibbereen in Co Cork, has been on the all-weather lifeboat crew fat Dunmore East for 10 years since his job as a winch man with the Irish Coast Guard brought him to Waterford.

See a gallery with the winning photo and the runners up HERE.

#LIFEBOATS - The shortlist has been announced for the RNLI's annual Photographer of the Year competition - and for the first time in its seven-year history, the charity is inviting members of the public to vote for their favourite.

The shortlist is now online via the RNLI Facebook page, and voting remains open till 5pm on Monday 12 November.

Among the 12 shortlisted snapshots is this stark image from the locker room at the Dunmore East lifeboat station, photographed by volunteer lifeboat crew member Neville Murphy.

You can help celebrate the work of the RNLI's volunteers by voting for your favourite image before the deadline!

#LIFEBOATS - The volunteer lifeboat crew at Trearddur Bay in Anglesey, north Wales have received a kind donation and a thank-you card from the owner of Daisy, a cow recently rescued after falling from a cliff into the Irish Sea.

Danielle Bosustow, aged eight, was so touched that the crew had rescued her pet she put pen to paper to thank them. Her thank you card reads: "Thank you so much for your help rescuing my cow Daisy. I am so happy to see her again."

Along with the thank you card was a kind donation from Danielle’s grandfather, a local farmer who visited the station to show his gratitude to the RNLI.

The volunteer crew sprung into action on 22 October last, following reports that a cow had fallen from a cliff at Porthdafarch.

The lifeboat launched and with the help of the local farmer, Daisy was located and towed to safety using a bridle. She was taken to a bay close by where she could safely reach dry land.

Alf Pritchard, press officer for Trearddur Bay RNLI said: "We were shown some photographs which were taken after Daisy’s ordeal and it was good to see she is none the worse for her experience.

"It’s so nice when people come back to let you know that what you have done is appreciated. As a charity, the RNLI also very much appreciates the donation."

#LIFEBOATS - Volunteers with Douglas RNLI in the Isle of Man were presented with Diamond Jubilee medals from the Queen last week in recognition of their tireless service to saving lives in the Irish Sea.

And they couldn't have found a better place to present them than the Fort Anne, the former home of RNLI founder Sir William Hillary.

The medal recipients included lifeboat crew Neal Corran (Coxswain); Juan Howland (Emergency. Cox); Tony Radcliffe (Mechanic); Peter Cowin (Emergency Mechanic); Donald Bottomley Emergency Mechanic); Simon Bushe (Emergency Mechanic); Peter Washington (Emergency Mechanic); Emily Heaton; Richard Coase; J Noel Farrell; Mark Versluijs; Richard Forrest; Graeme Cushnie; and Nigel Smallwood; plus shore crew Mary Corran (LOM); Paul Cunningham (Head Launcher); Alex McBride (Winch Operator); Robert Corran MBE; John McCreadie; and Paul Zywicki.

#RNLI - In what seems like a perfect match of skills, BBC News reports on a group of five surfers from Jersey who are being trained as lifeguards by the RNLI.

The surfers have graduated from voluntary beach patrols to learning about hazard awareness, accident prevention, first aid and open water rescue skills, according to RNLI lifeguard supervisor Rob Stuteley.

It's hoped that the scheme will "play a big part in encouraging more local people to sign up to join the RNLI lifeguard team for 2013".

And maybe it will provide some inspiration for surfers and lifesavers around the Irish coast, too!

#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.