I said words in tribute to a Lifeboatman on radio this week that I have never said before as I introduced my programme (scroll down the page for the podcast). I meant them and I was honoured to be able to speak them about a man who has spent 42 years with the RNLI at what I regard as a famous lifeboat station. This is what I said on the programme:

“Thank you for joining me on this marine voyage in which we will hear a particularly interesting interview with a lifeboatman and the changes he has experienced in a 42-year career with the RNLI, Tony Kehoe of the famous Rosslare Lifeboat Station talks frankly about a life rescuing people in trouble at sea in a way in which I’ve never before heard a lifeboatman being so direct and clear about the good, the bad and the tough aspects of a career aboard lifeboats.”

Tony spoke of rescue work in older lifeboats and how they could be hard to handle! And about a time when “someone knocked on your door in the middle of the night and said you were needed at the lifeboat…” He talked of the changes, particularly in the speed of lifeboats getting to the scene of a rescue or tragedy faster and requiring quicker responses by the crew to a variety of issues arising from that speed over the water and also, what it does to the body physically, when hitting waves at speeds of 16 knots and more, rather than 8 knots in older boats.

He comes of a family with huge commitment to the lifeboat service and two of his sons also joined Rosslare Station. I was very impressed by his interview and particularly what he told Niamh Stephenson, also of the RNLI who did the interview for the programme, about the most important requirements for a good lifeboat crew ---- “being part of a team, trusting each other..” and his final wish for those who carry on the service: “Mind yourselves….”

I am confident that you will enjoy listening to his interview and will appreciate even more, the value of the lifeboat service when you have heard it.

In that regard I commend to you May Day, Sunday May 1, at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, where I intend to be, to hear the Wexford Sinfonia Orchestra play their five-part suite, ‘HEROES OF THE HELEN BLAKE,’ a tribute to the men of the Fethard-on-Sea Lifeboat who died in the rescue service to the sailing cargo ship, Mexico. The members of the orchestra range in age from 14 to 80. The performance will begin at 3 p.m. MAY DAY is the annual Fundraising Day for the lifeboats. Tickets are €20, students €15 and can be bought at the Box Office at the Concert Hall or online at www.nch.ie  Do support the lifeboats on this day….

THIS ISLAND NATION reports on the maritime traditions, culture, history and modern marine developments in our island nation. Your comments are always welcome. Email: [email protected]

At a special ceremony held today Sligo Bay RNLI officially named its new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Sheila & Dennis Tongue, at its station in Rosses Point.

Peter Killen, a member of the Irish Council of the RNLI, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI before handing her over into the care of Sligo Bay Lifeboat Station.

He paid tribute to the donors Sheila & Dennis Tongue who had left a generous legacy to the RNLI in recognition of the vital life-saving work of the charity and as a thank-you for the happy days they spent living on the coast at Exmouth.

The couple were born in Birmingham in the 1920s and on Dennis’s retirement they moved to Devon where they lived until their eighties, overlooking the coast. The couple did not have any children and it was during their retirement that they came to know and admire the work of the RNLI and recognise its place in the life of the communities it served.

The couple were represented today by their nephews Raymond and Philip Tongue who travelled to Ireland for the special occasion.

Philip had the honour of officially naming the lifeboat during the ceremony which was also attended by the donor family of Elsinore, Sligo Bay’s former lifeboat which during her 13 years on service launched 189 times and brought 155 people to safety.

The new state of the art Atlantic 85 lifeboat was introduced into the RNLI fleet in 2005. The lifeboat is 8.4 metres in length and weighs 1.8 tonnes. Improvements on its predecessor include a faster top speed of 35 knots, radar, provision for a fourth crew member and more space for survivors.

Since the new lifeboat went on service on Sligo Bay in November it has launched four times to call outs.

During the event, Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said the naming ceremony and service of dedication was a wonderful occasion in the history of the lifeboat station, and marked the tremendous generosity of Sheila and Dennis Tongue.

‘It is wonderful to have the opportunity to thank the family directly for this amazing generosity. We assure you that you will always have a warm welcome here among us and we genuinely hope you will come and visit. We also commit to you our utmost dedication in ensuring that this wonderful new lifeboat is indeed a lifesaver in Sligo Bay.’

Mr Murphy paid tribute to the volunteers at Sligo Bay RNLI saying it was they who would give the new boat life: ‘It is your commitment and courage that will save lives with her in the future. Being a volunteer, whether on shore or afloat, involves a huge commitment in time and energy and I want to thank you and pay tribute to your dedication. Most importantly I wish all of you who put to sea safe passage aboard the Sheila and Dennis Tongue.’

He thanked the local fundraising branch for their untiring work and praised the generosity of the people of Sligo and further afield for helping to raise funds to enable the station to continue to save lives at sea.

He also thanked the families and friends of the crew, acknowledging that having someone involved in the RNLI was often not easy:
‘Away off for the many training sessions, or when the pagers go off you are being abandoned at the check-out in the supermarket, following down to the station with clothes as they ran off in their pyjamas, or suddenly having to make a whole new set of arrangements for the day. This can be a right pain, It’s not often we get a chance to publicly thank you, but we do today, to each and every one of you for your support.’

A lifeboat station was established at Sligo Bay in 1998. Situated at Rosses Point it is flanked by stations at Ballyglass to the south and Bundoran to the north.

In 1998, a D class lifeboat was sent to the station for evaluation and in 1999 an Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-525 Spix’s Macaw was placed on temporary station duty on 12 March.

An Atlantic 21 class lifeboat B-512 US Navy League was placed on station on the 26 October.

On the 2 February 2002, B-781 Elsinore, an Atlantic 75 class, was put on service.

The new lifeboat, an Atlantic 85 and the latest version of the B class, was placed on service on the 19 November last year.

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

Among the guests officiating at the ceremony were Martin Reilly, Chair of the Lifeboat Management Group who welcomed guests and opened proceedings; Raymond Tongue, nephew and representative of the donor, who handed the lifeboat over to the RNLI, Peter Killen, Member of the RNLI Council for Ireland, who accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI and handed her into the care of the lifeboat station and Willie Murphy, Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, who accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the station.

The Rt Reverend Monsignor Gerard Dolan PP, and the Very Reverend Arfon Williams, led the Service of Dedication

Lifeboat crew past and present, family, fundraisers and well-wishers galore all gathered this weekend to wish one of Rosslare RNLI’s most well-known and respected lifeboat men, a long and happy retirement. Tony Kehoe spent 42 years volunteering with the RNLI as well as working as a fleet mechanic for the charity for a decade.

In a day filled with emotion Tony was taken out on a final lifeboat exercise with his colleagues. The railings down to the lifeboat had been lined with banners and Tony’s family, including his wife Veronica, daughter Sonia, son Brian, son-in-law Kieran, daughter-in-law Louise and grandchildren Robyn, Hannah, Darragh, Joe and Harry were there to witness his final lifeboat exercise. On returning to shore after the short trip, which brought them out past Tuskar Rock, members and supporters of Rosslare RNLI lined the walkway back to the lifeboat station and Tony shook everyone’s hand to receive congratulations and good wishes for a well-deserved retirement.

A reception was held later that evening at Culletons in Kilrane where family, friends and lifeboat people gathered to pay tribute. RNLI Divisional Operations Manager Owen Medland presented Tony with his RNLI Certificate of Service, which detailed every position Tony had held in the charity, including the many years he acted as second mechanic. Rosslare RNLI Deputy Launching Authority and Lifeboat Press Officer Jamie Ryan was the evening’s MC and speakers on the night included Rosslare RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager David Maloney, Coxswain Eamon O’Rourke and representatives from the flanking lifeboat stations Kilmore Quay and Wexford RNLI with both Lifeboat Operations Manager Joe Maddock and Lifeboat Helm David Maguire paying their own tributes to Tony. Well known Rosslare resident Larry Dunne wrote a poem especially for the occasion.

Commenting on Tony’s retirement Rosslare Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager David Maloney said, ‘We wanted to mark this event properly as Tony has been such an important person in Rosslare RNLI. He is a lifeboat man through and through and while he was never afraid to tell it like it is, he always had the interests of the crew and the lifeboat at his heart. He is one of the first people you would want on the lifeboat on a bad night and we have all benefitted from his advice and counsel over the years. I know we are not losing that and Tony will be a regular and welcome visitor to our door.’

It was Tony’s friendship with former Rosslare RNLI mechanic Matt Wickham that brought him onto the lifeboat back in 1974. His great uncle was Coxswain on the lifeboat for several years and he was born and reared beside the watchbox in Rosslare Port.

Tony reminisced about the changes that had occurred in the RNLI over the past forty years including that now, thankfully, there is a full kit for every crewmember on the lifeboat. Tony said, ‘ Back when I first joined there was one set of kit for the crew who went out on the lifeboat and whoever got there first got the best pair of boots and if you took a big pair of boats and a bigger fella came after you, that was it. There were no pagers so if you didn’t hear the maroon go off someone rapped on your door and off you went.’

Asked about the callouts during his time on the lifeboat crew, Tony said that the one that stood out in his memory was in 1978 with Coxswain Seamus McCormack, who received a bronze medal for the rescue of two fishing crew. Tony added, ‘It was to a Cornish fishing boat, Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur, she sank out there on a bad day. I was the youngest on that callout at just 22 years old. The crew had been trying to get into Milford Haven and a storm came on then and they lost power. During the night while they were adrift they had fired whatever distress signals they could. It was around noon that day when they were burning some stuff in a drum on the deck and a freighter spotted them and raised the alarm and we were launched.’

‘The freighter made a bit of a lee for us and we got a couple of men off it and the RAF helicopter took one man off. We took them off in very difficult seas. It was a bad day with a bad sea and an old lifeboat but everyone was saved and the crew all stayed in Rosslare that night and departed on the ferry the next day.’

Tony’s parting words of advice for his lifeboat crew as he enjoys his well-deserved retirement were short and to the point, ‘Mind yourselves and look out for one another.’

Three fishermen were rescued tonight (Sunday 10 April) in gale force conditions by volunteer lifeboat crew from Kinsale RNLI. The 20 metre beam trawler was forced onto the rocks at Moneypoint, at the entrance to Kinsale harbour, around 1800hrs this evening. See Video below.

Kinsale RNLI was launched at 6.10pm and arrived on scene less than five minutes later to find the vessel on the rocks with three-metre high waves breaking over its deck. The experienced lifeboat crew, led by Helm Nick Searls, dropped anchor and veered down, getting within feet of the stricken boat. The three crewmen then entered the water individually and were pulled to safety on board the RNLI lifeboat.

They were brought to Kinsale RNLI station where they were shaken by their ordeal but uninjured. The RNLI lifeboat returned to the scene to monitor the vessel and to ensure the safety of members of the public who lined the shore to watch the incident unfold. With the arrival of the local Coast Guard on the shoreline, the RNLI lifeboat returned to the station.

Kinsale RNLI Helm Nick Searls said: ‘Our priority was to get the crew safely off the trawler, which was complicated by the breaking waves coming over the top of the boat. We needed to manoeuvre the lifeboat in as close as possible to the stricken trawler so that the three fishermen could individually jump into the water to be recovered immediately by the lifeboat crew. The fishermen were wearing lifejackets and the operation to recover all three of them onto the lifeboat was successful.’

The three rescued men lost all their personal belongings and RNLI volunteers issued an appeal to the local community in Kinsale for clothing and shoes for the men. The station also received several offers of accommodation.

The volunteer crew of Bundoran RNLI lifeboat were requested to launch yesterday evening (Saturday 9th April) to reports of surfers in difficulty off Tullaghan in County Leitrim. The 999 call was made by a member of the public who noticed the surfers struggling to make their way back to shore.

Within minutes the lifeboat launched in challenging conditions and made its way to the scene where the Sligo based Rescue 118 helicopter, who were returning from another incident, had already lifted one of the surfers out of the water. The other surfer was then lifted from the water by the lifeboat. The helicopter landed and handed over the surfer they had lifted to RNLI shore crew. Neither surfer needed medical assistance.

On their return to the the lifeboat station helm Brian Gillespie said 'the surfers had luck on their side with the helicopter passing and our boat being able to launch in such challenging conditions. The outcome was positive on this occasion and we are thankful we were able to get to the surfers on time. We would like to remind anyone who sees anyone in trouble on the coast to ring 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.

RNLI lifeguards will patrol five beaches on the Causeway Coast during this year’s Easter holidays.

Starting on Good Friday, lifeguards will be operating from Beach Lifeguard Units on Benone Strand, Portstewart Strand, East and West Strands in Portrush and Whiterocks.

The lifeguards will be on duty from 11am to 7pm starting on Good Friday, 25 March and continuing daily to Monday 4 April.

Weekend cover on the Causeway Coast and Tyrella Beach in County Down will then commence on Saturday 30 April and continue up to the beginning of the peak Summer season when 10 beaches on the Causeway Coast and in County Down will commence daily cover from Monday 13 June through to Sunday 4 September.

The new season arrives following a period of intensive work for the lifeguard management team to train the lifeguards and prepare the seasonal equipment.

With Easter falling earlier than usual this year, Mike Grocott, RNLI Lifeguard Manager is reminding anyone planning a visit to the beach to remember that it is still cold and to go prepared.

‘Easter is early and the beaches and the water are still very cold. Please bear this in mind and come dressed for the weather conditions to ensure your visit is both safe and enjoyable.’

Mr Grocott said pre-season preparations had gone well and the lifeguards were now looking forward to putting their training to use:

‘Working alongside our colleagues in the Causeway Coast and Glens District Council, the RNLI is delighted to be back on five of our lifeguarded beaches for the Easter season. Our lifeguards have been busy in the last month undergoing intensive training to be ready for Easter. This year, for the first time, we welcomed our lifeguarding colleagues from Wales and the north of England to share their lifeguarding experiences and to train on our beaches on the north coast.

‘With the training complete, our lifeguards are looking forward to being back on patrol and to putting their skills into action. We would encourage visitors to the beach in the coming days to speak to our lifeguards, ask for safety advice, and most importantly call on them should they find themselves in difficulty’.

The RNLI’s advice for anyone planning a trip to the beach is to respect the water, check weather and tide times before you go and if planning to go into the water, swim at a lifeguarded beach, between the red and yellow flags. Avoid using inflatables in strong winds or rough seas.
If you get into trouble, stick your hand in the air and shout for help and if you see someone else in trouble, tell a lifeguard. If you can’t see a lifeguard, call 909 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.

Last year, lifeguards in Northern Ireland responded to 182 incidents coming to the aid of 218 people. Incidents ranged from dealing with stings, slips and trips to major first aid incidents as well as rescues in the water.

One incident included a life saved, while there were eight cases during which 11 people were rescued and 36 instances which saw the lifeguards assist 68 people. Nine people were treated in major casualty care incidents including body boarders, paddle boarders and kite surfers while 95 people were assisted with minor first aid. The lifeguards were also involved in four searches last year.

Despite a wet summer figures show that 345,027 people visited the 10 beaches last year. Some 27,043 of those visitors took to the water while 9,975 were using surf or other craft.
There were a number of unusual incidents to deal with last year summer too, including responding to a sand dune fire, red flagging beaches in a severe thunder and lightning storm and dealing with the discovery of mortar bombs.

The volunteer lifeboat crew and station management at Lough Swilly RNLI wish to extend their deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the five people who lost their lives following the events at Buncrana Pier on Sunday night (20 March 2016).

Commenting on the tragedy, John McCarter, Lough Swilly RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘Our volunteer lifeboat crew were one of the first emergency services on scene and recovered the five casualties from the water. We were devastated to learn subsequently that those five people, including young children, had lost their lives. We wish to commend the actions of the member of the public who selflessly entered the water and rescued the baby and we wish them both a full recovery.

John McArthur, Operations Manager with Lough Swilly RNLI, describes the rescue and recovery effort at Buncranahttps://t.co/0m8JutqMFc

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 21, 2016

‘While our volunteer lifeboat crew train for and respond to every possible incident, the events in our community last night, were extremely tragic and challenging for our lifeboat crew. I want to thank our volunteer lifeboat crew along with the other emergency services and members of the public who responded to this emergency for their professionalism and their courage. Our thoughts are now with the families who have lost loved ones in this awful tragedy.’

An Irish amateur orchestra is set to realise their dream of performing on the stage of the National Concert Hall in Dublin when they play a specially composed piece of music commemorating the Helen Blake maritime tragedy where nine lifeboat crew lost their lives off the Irish coast. The Wexford Sinfonia will play the ‘Heroes of the Helen Blake’ Suite on the main stage this May to raise funds for the RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea.

Volunteer lifeboat crewmember and orchestra Chairman Keith Miller approached Wexford composer Liam Bates a few years ago to commemorate the incredible events during three days in 1914 where nine lifeboat volunteers lost their lives and ten sailors were saved when the Mexico struck rocks. After working with the Sinfonia's musicians and researching the history of the shipwreck and tragic rescue, Liam wrote a five-part suite: ‘Heroes of The Helen Blake’. It was premiered in front of a sell-out crowd at the Wexford County Hall in 2014 and the dream of the orchestra has been to bring it to the National Concert Hall in Dublin. Now two years later it is finally happening and the musicians hope it will be a sell-out.

The orchestra was founded in 1993 by a group of music teachers and is the only Irish amateur symphony orchestra based in a county town. The musicians range in age from 14 to 80 and come from all walks of life. They share a common interest of performing music together to the highest possible standard.

To promote the upcoming concert the orchestra wanted to do something different and turned to their clarinettist Alan Mahon to take a photograph with a difference that would reflect all the emotions behind the piece of music. Pictured are members of the Wexford Sinfonia with their instruments alongside RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew standing looking out to sea. All profits from the concert will go to the work of the RNLI in Ireland, saving lives at sea.

Commenting on the event RNLI crewmember and orchestra Chairman Keith Miller said, ‘We have waited two long years to bring this incredible piece of music to a larger audience. The National Concert Hall is the perfect venue for it and we are very excited to finally play it here. It was also very appropriate that we do it on Mayday which is the RNLI’s annual fundraising appeal day. ‘

‘Nine lifeboat crew lost their lives that day but ten shipwrecked sailors were brought home safe. As a lifeboat man and a musician I feel we should acknowledge these events in our history. There are many descendants of the lifeboat crew from that time living and volunteering on RNLI lifeboats today who feel tremendous pride in the achievements of their ancestors. We would love to share this story with a wider audience and we hope that people will join us for what promises to be a great afternoon of music and the maritime.’

Heroes of the Helen Blake will be performed in the main auditorium of the National Concert Hall on Sunday 1 May at 3pm. Tickets are priced at €20 (students €15) with funds raised going to the RNLI. Tickets can be purchased at the National Concert Hall Box Office or by booking online at www.nch.ie

Two fishermen have been brought to safety this afternoon by the RNLI after they got into difficulty off the Wexford coast.

Wexford RNLI was requested to launch their inshore lifeboat at 12.08pm following a report that a fishing vessel with two people on board was experiencing mechanical difficulty a mile and a half south east of Blackwater Head.

The lifeboat helmed by Frank O’Brien launched and made its way to the scene. Wexford RNLI then requested the assistance of Rosslare Harbour RNLI due to the location of the fishing vessel some 12 miles north of Rosslare Harbour. It was the fourth call out in a week for the volunteer lifeboat crew from Rosslare.

The all-weather lifeboat under Coxswain Eamonn O’Rourke and with eight volunteer crew members on board launched at 12.29pm and made its way to the scene.

Weather conditions at the time were described as overcast but good. The men had been razor fishing when their boat got caught in lobster pots.

Once on scene, the lifeboat crew observed that no one was in immediate danger and began to work with the fishermen to establish a towline.

The vessel was then taken under tow and brought to the bar of Wexford escorted all the time by Wexford RNLI’s inshore lifeboat. Once there, Wexford RNLI took over and brought the vessel to shore at 4pm with the assistance of another fishing vessel which was in the area at the time. Having only finished a routine exercise when they were requested to launch at midday, this meant the volunteers from Wexford had spent some six hours at sea.

Meanwhile, yesterday (Saturday 12 March) Rosslare Harbour RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat under Coxswain Keith Miller launched in thick fog at 7am after a fishing boat with three people on board was reported to have lost its rudder just off Rosslare. The lifeboat once on scene took the boat under tow and brought it to Blackrock where it was met by Kilmore Quay RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat which towed it into Kilmore Quay.

Meanwhile, at 6.30am on Thursday, the lifeboat launched under Coxswain Eamonn O’Rourke to go the assistance of a fishing boat which had broke from her moorings overnight and blew ashore due to a change in the weather conditions. On this occasion the lifeboat crew established a tow before the vessel was brought alongside the fishermen’s wall in the harbour.

Speaking following today’s call out, David Maloney, Rosslare Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘The fishermen did the right thing this afternoon and raised the alarm when they began to experience some difficulty. Our volunteers both from Rosslare Harbour and Wexford responded rapidly and worked well together to bring the fishermen safely to shore. It has been a busy week for our volunteers but they are always ready and delighted to help anyone in need at sea.’

Lifeboat crew with Rosslare RNLI had an early morning callout today to a 22–metre fishing vessel which had suffered engine failure near Tuskar Rock lighthouse.

The lifeboat pagers went off at 5.30am with the lifeboat launching a short time later. Rosslare RNLI arrived on scene at 6am to find a 22-metre fishing vessel with four people on board which had suffered engine failure, 2km northwest of Tuskar Rock lighthouse.

The volunteer lifeboat crew immediately established a tow in moderate sea conditions and brought the vessel in to Rosslare Europort, arriving at 7.15am.

Commenting on the callout Rosslare RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer Jamie Ryan said, ‘This was an early morning wake-up call for our volunteer lifeboat crew but they are always ready to respond. Thankfully conditions were good and the lifeboat crew were on scene quickly. Rosslare is a busy port with a lot of vessels coming and going so it is important that when one suffers a problem that there is help close by and we can escort them to safety. Everything went to plan and the four fishing crew are safe and well.’