|
|
Veterans Barry and Patsy return
pagers
19.10.10
TWENTY-three years of
selfless life-saving at sea came to an end at the
weekend with the retirement of veterans Barry
Stevenson and Patsy Carlin from the RNLI Lough
Swilly Lifeboat.
The lifeboat station was set up in 1987 and Barry
was appointed to the role of deputy launching
authority (DLA) and Patsy initially enrolled as a
member of sea-going crew. Later Patsy moved to the
role of DLA and, in his final years at the station,
was a member of the shore crew.
"Over the years the two men have been involved in
countless rescues and training exercises involving
thousands of voluntary hours, in a station that
started out with a 16ft inflatable D-Class boat that
was kept in the old fort at Ned’s Point under a
tarpaulin," said PRO, Joe Joyce. |
 |
"In that time both men
saw dramatic rescues with an ever-evolving crew that
are constantly adapting to the many changes in life
saving technology, equipment, boats and the ever
expanding shore based facilities that have come to
pass at Lough Swilly Lifeboat Station."
During the last 23 years, Barry and Patsy made
themselves available on a 24/7 basis to assist,
advise and oversee operations and events at Ned’s
Point and Buncrana Pier. |
|
RNLI's B-Class Atlantic 85 boat in
action on Lough Swilly. |
On Friday evening, they returned their pagers
to the Lifeboat operations manager, Liam Magee,
signalling the end of a near quarter century of
watch on the Swilly. They were presented with
letters of thanks from RNLI headquarters in Poole,
England, for their dedication and commitment to the
organisation over the years.
Mr Magee paid tribute to the two men for their
dedication and commitment over the years, and he
especially thanked their wives, Marie Stevenson and
Margaret Carlin, and their families for their
unwavering back-up and support that is critical to
volunteers within the emergency service. |
|
