Preliminary figures from the Royal National Life-Boat Institution (RNLI) indicate that lifeboat crews answered 548 calls around Ireland this year and saved the lives of 145 people.
A further 528 people were helped in dangerous situations. The figures average at 56 launches, with 12 lives saved from certain death and 44 people brought to safety for each month of the year. In Britain and Ireland, the RNLI answered 5,119 calls in 1998, saving 951 people from death and assisting a further 4,159 from dangerous situations.
The largest proportion of call-outs, 45 per cent, involved people using pleasure craft. Commercial and fishing vessels, as well as people marooned by tide, accounted for 27 per cent of the calls.
In Ireland the busiest four lifeboat stations this year were Aran (38 calls), Portrush (34), Dun Laoghaire (22) and Galway (25). However, most lives (22) this year were saved by Valentia lifeboat.
The RNLI will be 175 years old in 1999. It was founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824 and has retained its voluntary status since, with 46 crews at 38 stations in Ireland and a further 185 stations in Britain. More than 132,000 people have been saved by RNLI crews since 1824, over 8,300 by Irish crews.
Speaking of the 175th anniversary, Ms Claire Brennan, national organiser for the RNLI in Ireland, said its founder would have been proud that the institution continues to provide a lifeboat service which is free and available to all.
Free information leaflets, booklets and videos on safety at sea for pleasure craft users are available from the RNLI at (01) 284-5050).
