Two crew from the Galway Lifeboat Station were recognised for 30 years of volunteering at a recent RNLI volunteer recognition event and a third crew received his 20 year long service medal.
Shane Folan has been volunteering since May 1995 and was the very first volunteer crew member officially enrolled at Galway Lifeboat Station. He started as lifeboat crew, progressed to helm and then to the role of launch authority that he currently holds. The second recipient of the 30 year award is David Oliver who has been a volunteer since mid 1995, first as lifeboat crew and since 2001 as helm.
Martin Oliver joined Galway RNLI in 2005 and has been a helm since 2015 after spending the initial years as lifeboat crew. Martin received his medal in recognition of 20 years of volunteering with the RNLI.
Paul Carey, Lifeboat Operations Manager, Galway RNLI said that this year they are celebrating 30 years since Galway Lifeboat went ‘on station’ in March 1996. “Since that date our volunteer crew have launched on rescues 818 times, coming to the aid of 498 people, 74 of whom were lives saved. It is incredible to think that we have two crew who have been volunteers and part of our crew since the very beginning and many more who have reached milestones of long service. ‘The RNLI event which took place in Clontarf last month was in recognition of volunteers who had 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years of service and was one of two recognition events taking place on the island of Ireland, with an event also taking place in Belfast.
“We can be incredibly proud that Galway was represented at that event by Shane and David and to have their achievements recognised along with the immense contribution of Martin who was recognised for 20 years of service. It is impossible to quantify in hours the time that they have dedicated to the RNLI and to saving lives at sea on Galway Bay.
“In addition to the 100s of hours spent out on search and rescue missions, they have devoted the same time again and more to training both as part of their own training and progression plans, but also significantly as leaders on the crew, delivering training to the next generation of lifesavers. ‘As a volunteer with the RNLI, family and friends play a really important role.
“They are the ones who provide support when the pager goes off in the middle of the night, in the middle of mealtimes, in the middle of large life events like weddings and Christmas Day. The recognition events are also for the families and spouses of our crew and all the people who make it possible for our volunteers to make such an enduring commitment to the RNLI. ‘We look forward to the next 30 years and longer of Galway RNLI and to marking the long service achievements of more crew in the future,” he concluded.
