East meets west as Skerries RNLI visit Clifden
Skerries RNLI volunteer crew headed to the West coast this month as they paid a visit to their colleagues in Clifden RNLI.
Once a year the volunteers in Skerries RNLI undertake a team building and fact finding trip to other rescue services and lifeboat stations.
Despite being located on the opposite side of the country, Skerries RNLI and Clifden RNLI had previously exercised together, along with Clogherhead RNLI off the East coast back in 2014. On that occasion the Clifden crew were being trained on the Mersey class all-weather that is currently being trialled at their station.
Last weekend (16 April), Clifden RNLI launched all three of their lifeboats, a Mersey class all-weather lifeboat, an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat and a D class inshore lifeboat, to take the volunteers from Skerries afloat and give them a taste of the challenges they faced on the West coast and at their own station in particular.
Skerries RNLI would like to thank volunteers Philip Ferguson and Laura Boylan for organising the trip. Irish Rail, who very generously subsidised the travel costs and most importantly all of the volunteers at Clifden RNLI for giving up their time and extending a warm welcome.
Speaking about the exercise, Gerry Canning, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Skerries RNLI said: ‘It’s always a great learning experience for our volunteers to see the challenges that face other crews around the coast, and how they deal with them. The guys from Clifden RNLI were fantastic and really pulled out all the stops to make sure we went afloat and got a good insight into why they require each of their boats.’
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Photo Details
Photo 1: Clifden RNLI Inshore lifeboats on exercise, Credit: Philip Ferguson
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For more information please telephone Gerry Canning Skerries RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer on 087 988 4965 email [email protected] or Niamh Stephenson RNLI Public Relations Manager on 087 1254 124 or 01 8900 460 email [email protected] or Nuala McAloon RNLI Press Officer Tel: 087 6483547 email: [email protected] or contact RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789
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