Selfless bravery of community in search shines light on humanity
ON Monday a crowd gathered at a church in rural Co Wexford for the funeral of a fisherman who went missing off the coast. The man rescued was Willie Whelan and he meant the world to so many people. His remains were brought ashore at Rosslare Europort on Friday night having been recovered by naval divers earlier that day.
The recovery operation involved up to 100 people who went to sea in all kinds of weather to try and get to his trawler The Alize, which lay foundered on its side over 50m below sea level.
The people involved in the operation, fishermen, RNLI volunteers, civil defence volunteers, naval officers, Coast Guard officials all acted with life-affirming brilliance throughout. Willie’s step-mother said his recovery from the seabed felt like ‘winning the Lotto’ – the poignant undertow of her words hard not to pick up on.
Every week there are rescue and recovery operations off of our coast. Usually they are far away but when you can see naval vessels off the coast – as I did cover recent weeks while visiting Hook Lighthouse with my family – that you can begin to appreciate the dedication and the scale of services available to people who find themselves in difficulty in the Irish Sea and the Atlantic.
It has been a horrific start to the decade and new year with seemingly endless gruesome stories assaulting our senses whenever we pick up a newspaper or switch on the phone, TV or radio.
Seeing the great work the volunteers do and speaking with family members of people like Willie Whelan who died at sea, seeing what it means to them, gives me and should give everyone great heart because these people are truly inspirational.
There is an amazing tradition of protecting life along our coast. I learned about this in some detail during a tour of Hook Lighthouse when the brilliant guide highlighted how monks used to light fires to guide ships away from the peninsula’s treacherous rocks.
He went on to recall the work of lighthouse keepers over the decades as technology improved: the loneliness of the job, the sacrifices made, all to keep people alive and safe.
Sadly in the case of Willie Whelan the best possible outcome was his recovery from the sea. That it happened on the 20th day, (the 21st day being when recovery operations traditionally are scaled down), was testament to the team effort involved in the mission, which saw members of a local sub aqua club locate the body for naval officers to recover.
THE death of Monty Python star Terry Jones brought back memories out of the grey of Time, bringing me right back to a friend’s sittingroom watching The Life of Brian as a chap of 13.
Monty Python was a hoot and Jones was integral part of their madcap adventures and his direction of The Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life showed just a glimpse of his incredible talent and lust for life. His love of the absurd found pure expression in his character, Mr Creosote who literally exploded into the public’s consciousness in a memorable scene after eating an after dinner mint.
His turn as Brian’s mother was another classic. The older I get the more I see how important humour is. A good belly-laugh among friends and family can bring us right back to ourselves. Thanks Terry!