Another busy year for Dun Laoghaire’s RNLI lifeboats

DUN Laoghaire’s lifeboat service was one of the busiest in the entire country, figures for 2014 have revealed.

According to the RNLI’s statistics, lifeboat crews launched 1,089 times, last year, bringing a total of 1,414 people to safety.

The charity called for the public to think ahead and never underestimate the strength and power of the sea and inland waters as it issued its returns of service numbers from each of its 45 lifeboat stations in Ireland.

The figures show that more people are getting into difficulty on leisure craft and the charity has advised that proper safety advice and maintenance is vital to ensure people stay safe on the water.

The busiest lifeboat station in Ireland last year was Lough Ree RNLI in Athlone. The charity’s lifeboat crew there launched 69 times and brought 142 people to safety. This was followed by Howth RNLI which had 62 launches and brought 107 people to safety, their busiest year ever while the Dun Laoghaire RNLI launched 56 times and brought 55 people to safety.

The types of call outs that the RNLI responded to last year included aid to leisure craft users (536), assistance to fishing vessels (140) help to people who got into difficulty along the shoreline (119) and to people in the water (185).

Commenting on the figures RNLI Operations Manager Owen Medland said:

“These figures are based on every lifeboat station in the RNLI returning a detailed service report and are a valuable insight into what our volunteer lifeboat crews are facing when they launch and what conditions they face.

“Overall 35 per cent of our lifeboat call outs were carried out in the hours of darkness. Almost half of the call outs last year were to leisure vessels and of these call outs many were to boats run aground and with engine problems.

“Breaking down at sea or on a lough can be a frightening experience,

? he added.

“Weather and darkness can turn a bad situation very serious in a matter of minutes. Nobody who sets out thinks anything bad will happen but calling for help early is always the right choice.

?

2014 also saw the introduction of the RNLI’s 45th lifeboat station in Ireland, when in November, Union Hall RNLI in south west Cork went on trial for a 24 month period. Last year the charity marked 190 years of lifesaving and the RNLI is aiming to reduce coastal drowning significantly by 2024.

To do this the charity will be expanding its preventative work and will launch Respect the Water in an effort to engage with water users on how to stay safe and maintain their equipment.

Water safety advice is available on rnli.org/safety