Wexford RNLI Volunteers Mick Nicholas, Rosslare Harbour RNLI, Lorraine Galvin, David Maguire and Simon Gulliver Wexford RNLI and Robbie Connolly Kilmore Quay RNLI in attendance at special Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, London, to celebrate and commemorate 200 years of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. (Pic; RNLI/Lorraine Galvin)
By Dan Walsh
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) celebrated 200 years of saving lives at sea on Monday with crews from Wexford’s lifeboat stations in attendance at the unveiling of two stamps from An Post, in Dublin, which depict the charity’s lifesaving work in Ireland and a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey in London.
At Westminster Abbey, volunteers from crews across Wexford attended the special Service of Thanksgiving and joined with colleagues from around Ireland and the UK to mark the foundation of the charity which was founded following a meeting in The London Tavern on this day in 1824.
Representing were Simon Gulliver, David Maguire and Lorraine Galvin of Wexford RNLI, Mick Nicholas of Rosslare Harbour RNLI, Walter Foley of Fethard RNLI, Elaine Walsh, Declan Roche and Robbie Connolly of Kilmore Quay RNLI.
On the day the charity turns 200, the RNLI announced that its volunteer lifeboat crews have saved 8,357 lives in Ireland since it was founded, and aided a further 35,477 people. The RNLI operates 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, including four on inland waters. The charity designs and builds its own lifeboats and runs domestic and international water safety programmes. Its most recent all-weather lifeboat, the Shannon, was named after the Irish river in recognition of generations of Irish lifeboat crew. The first RNLI lifeboat in Ireland was established in Arklow in 1826.
Over 200 years of lifesaving in the RNLI two things remain unchanged – the charity’s reliance on volunteers who give their time and commitment to save others, and the voluntary contributions from the public which fund the service.
At North Wall Quay in Dublin, Fethard RNLI’s Nadia Blanchfield, Eugene Kehoe and Michelle Devereux from Kilmore Quay RNLI were among a number of RNLI crew from around the country who marked the birthday with the launch of two special edition stamps from An Post.
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