And the winners are...Oskars night raises €98,000 for boat
IT was one of the highlights of the Drogheda social calendar, and despite the Oskars night falling foul of Storm Emma and having to be rescheduled, the Clogherhead RNLI raised almost €100,000 towards their fundraising efforts for a new vessel.
Just before the 10am training launch of Clogherhead Lifeboat last Saturday, the actors from the recent Oskars were invited to hear the official announcement of the amount raised. There was spontaneous applause when it was announced that an earth-shattering €98,262. 98 had been raised through Oskar related activities.
Speaking after the presentation Tomás Whelehan, Coxswain, thanked the public for their generous support and said that money raised will be put to very good use.
“We’re all humbled and extremely grateful to the actors, their families, businesses, companies, Coast Guard, Gardaí, the media and sponsors for all the help received over the course of the three-month Oskars period,” he added.
“The New Shannon lifeboat will be delivered to Clogherhead in around 12 months’ time: when the Shannon is fully operational the response time in reaching a casualty will be almost 50% faster.”
Declan Levins, Operations Manager, said the new Shannnon Lifeboat will provide a better service across the primary service area stretching from Skerries to Kilkeel and further if needed.
He expressed his gratitude for the support they have received, and emphasised the broad base of support from both near and far to Clogherhead.