Lifeboat crew thank Kildare donors

"EVERY time our pager goes off, we think of our donors," said Sinead Casey, a volunteer crew member of RNLI Wexford Station for more than two decades, explaining very simply the value of fundraising for an organisation that has saved thousands of lives off Ireland's shores and in the country's inland waterways.

"When the Coast Guard set off the pager we don't know where we're going or what's going to happen, but we get kitted out and are gone to sea thanks to the support we get from people like you,” she said.

She was speaking at the launch in Sallins on Saturday (15 February) of a countywide €117,000 campaign to fund a new D-class inshore lifeboat for the Wexford RNLI station, a project of the North Kildare RNLI fundraising branch to mark the 200 years of the independent life-saving service.

The boat will be called the Cill Dara and the event at the Lock 13 Gastropub in Sallins was supported by crew members of the Dunmore East lifeboat station who brought their D-class boat to show people just what their donations will provide.

The 46 RNLI stations on the island of Ireland and their 62 lifeboats are part of a network of some 240 stations serving sailors around Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Brian Bradshaw of the Cill Dara Appeal emphasised that the RNLI is independent of any government and is a charity institute which depends solely on the goodwill of donors.

He recalled that the Kildare group have a special affinity with the Wexford Station because a D-class was provided in 2005 by the family of one of the group's fundraisers who had died suddenly.

Niamh Stephenson of RNLI Ireland told the gathering that they were an “amazing” link in an “incredible” organisation that would be very hard to establish from scratch today.

"Imagine asking people to give up so much of their time to help people that they do not know, that they may never see again?"

She said the D-class boats are the workhorse of the organisation and carry out about 70 per cent of rescue work.

"The crew call them pocket rockets and they love their years in the D-class and feel a very close bond with their donors, many of whom contribute with legacies after their death. You'll often see their pictures in the station, and the crew will always be able to tell the story of their donors."

Sinead Casey told those present that as a sailor and a swimmer with skills garnered over years, she volunteers because she wants to give something back to those who get into difficulties at sea.

Expressing her appreciation for the families of crew — "they are the selfless ones who just let us go and don't ask questions" — she said she and her colleagues are delighted to be able to commit to many hours of training and the rescue work.

"We also especially want to thank you, the crew of fundraisers in Kildare for taking on this initiative to support us."

The Wexford lifeboat station has undertaken 298 launches since 2002, helping 244 people in difficulties and saving 17 lives.

The North Kildare RNLI fundraising group was formed some 50 years ago in Celbridge by Lady King-Harman, and early fundraising was an annual tour of the local pubs.

Brian Bradshaw noted the “very successful” recent Christmas concert towards the Cill Dara Appeal organised by Bernie Greene and Mick Byrne and outlined some of a campaign programme that will include further concerts, a cookery demonstration by chef Edward Heydon in March at the Killashee Hotel, and a table quiz as well as a race night and a golf classic. Details of the appeal are available on RNLI.org/CillDara.