The Royal National Life-Boat Institution is far too polite to say so, but its voluntary fundraising efforts are expected to receive a boost as a result of yesterday's 175th birthday.
The occasion could have passed off uneventfully, with the simultaneous firing of flares at all 223 Irish and British stations. But emergency call-outs at Dun Laoghaire and Howth, Co Dublin, for the Stena Line HSS Explorer, and at Kilrush, Co Clare, ensured it was a very public event.
The birthday cake had already been cut and eaten in Dun Laoghaire when the alert was raised over the Stena high-speed ferry just after 11.15 a.m. yesterday.
The Irish Marine Emergency Service initiated a full alert, and both the Howth lifeboat and the IMES medium-range Sikorski helicopter were sent out. However, the master of the vessel, Capt Hugh Farrell, berthed without assistance, and the 322 passengers and 70 crew were disembarked.
"We simply stood by and relayed information on the extent of the damage to the hull above and below the waterline," Mr Justin Merrigan of RNLI said. Given the conditions, the Stena master used considerable skill to negotiate the berth, Mr Merrigan said. The Dun Laoghaire lifeboat was under the command of coxswain Ken Robertson.
In Kilrush, Co Clare, celebrations were also marked by a callout when a fishing vessel, Ocean Star, lost power in the Shannon estuary. The vessel, with six on board, regained power and was escorted in by the Kilrush Atlantic 75 lifeboat.
The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, acknowledged the important role of the voluntary institution when he visited Dun Laoghaire yesterday.
