As it celebrates its 10th anniversary, volunteers at Lough Ree RNLI will host a dual celebration at Coosan Point at 2pm on Saturday, June 11, when the charity’s new state-of-the-art lifeboat station will be officially opened.
At a special service of dedication, the charity’s Atlantic 85 class lifeboat, Tara Scougall will be officially named in honour of a mother, daughter and wife who lived an active life on the water before her premature death from cancer at the age of 43.
Tara was introduced to the water by her late father John and while sharing his passion for boating, she also for a period, ran an online yachting and boating magazine. An avid traveller and explorer in her professional life, Tara was one of a Microsoft team who were responsible for the creation of Expedia.
On Saturday afternoon, Lough Ree RNLI look forward to welcoming Tara’s mother Diana, her husband James and her children Eleanor and James to Athlone for the official service of dedication for the lifeboat named in her honour.
A new home for the lifeboat and its volunteer crew will also be officially opened on the same day.
Built at a cost of €1.2 million, on a site donated by Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, the lifeboat station has taken just over two years to construct. The state-of-the-art facility provides an ideal training base for the volunteer crew and immediate access the lake for the charity’s lifeboat.
“This is a very special occasion for our station, and we are most grateful to James Scougall for this generous gift in Tara’s memory which has funded this lifeboat. The opening of new lifeboat station is a great way to celebrate 10 years of the RNLI on Lough Ree and we look forward to serving the community into the future,” Kevin Ganly, Lough Ree RNLI Lifeboat operations manager, said.
Lough Ree RNLI looks forward to welcoming RNLI chief xxecutive Mark Dowie and Anna Classon, the new head of region for the RNLI in Ireland, on their first visits to Coosan Point.
The volunteers at Lough Ree RNLI are particularly looking forward to welcoming supporters, friends and the general public to the event on Saturday. Due to confined road access to the venue, a shuttle bus service will be provided from the car park at Coosan Church to Coosan Point starting at 1pm. General motor access to Coosan Point will be restricted on Saturday afternoon following safety advice from An Garda Siochana.
