RNLI volunteers have 20 years of service
WHILE many people will be thinking about presents, turkey and time with the family, dedicated RNLI volunteers from 46 lifeboat stations across Ireland will be ensuring their yellow wellies and lifejackets are ready for when the call comes and will be prepared to drop everything at a moment’s notice to save lives at sea.
Among the community lifesaving team at Sligo Bay RNLI are six volunteers who have carried lifeboat pagers over Christmas for more than 20 years.
Michael Waters and Eithne Davis, both of whom are helms on Sligo RNLI’s inshore lifeboat, Dermot Gillen, former crew member, former chair of the fundraising committee and now Deputy Launching Authority, and John Ryan, former crew and current shore crew member, were all recognised by the RNLI this year for their 20 years of selfless dedication to the lifesaving charity. All four were original members of the Sligo lifeboat crew and all have been carrying a pager ever since.
Meanwhile, helm Gerard Cunniffe and Stephen Reid, a former helm and now Deputy Launching Authority, will be honoured for their 20 years’ service later next year.
Eithne who joined Sligo Lifeboat Station in 1998 as a crew member and mother of two small children, says: “Christmas is no different to any other time of year. We’ ll be on call and our families will be ready to delay Christmas celebrations should the pagers go off.
“Lifeboat families don’t make a fuss about it but living with a crew member has a big impact on their lives. They support the lifeboat service in very practical ways, and everyone who donates money supports the service financially.
“It’s a real team effort. It only works because we all contribute in our own way. We go to sea knowing that we have the best training and equipment available thanks to our tireless fundraisers, even though costs are rising all the time alongside improved safety standards.
“Our families know this too, and that helps to reassure them when we drop everything and launch the lifeboat.’
To ensure the RNLI can continue its lifesaving work this Christmas and into the future, the charity is running a major fundraising appeal, The Perfect Storm.
Last year, Sligo Bay RNLI launched 32 times, rescuing 15 people, two of whom were lives saved thanks to the direct actions of the lifeboat crew.