Saturday, June 25, marked International Day of the Seafarer and was an apt date to mark the official opening of IWAI Dunrovin headquarters (HQ Dunrovin ) at Coosan Point on the shores of Lough Ree.
While the weather was not wonderful it did remain largely dry for this most significant event in IWAI’s history. The official opening of IWAI HQ Dunrovin finally fulfils the wishes of Cynthia Rice who bequeathed the Dunrovin property and site to IWAI Athlone in 1997.
To safeguard the property over the intervening years, it was rented out to various tenants. The site was and is frequently used by several water-based sports clubs with the Athlone Boat Club holding their annual regatta at Dunrovin as their base. Athletes practicing for the triathlon use the waterways directly in front of Dunrovin for their open water swim.
IWAI Athlone held many branch meetings in the original dwelling that was the home of the Rice family. Many active and committed members of IWAI Athlone gave their time and energy ensuring the property did not fall into disrepair and disuse. Over the years, it has remained a primary goal of the Association to honour and carry out Cynthia’s wishes. Now, 25 years later, Dunrovin has been reborn in partnership with the RNLI resulting in a state-of-the-art permanent lifeboat station for RNLI alongside IWAI’s new HQ building.
At 11am a crowd of approximately 100 people gathered both indoor and outdoor to celebrate the official opening of IWAI HQ Dunrovin in its spiritual home. Numbered among the guests were no fewer than 10 IWAI past presidents whose terms of office dated all the way back to 1984.
The grandchildren of Harry Rice, Peter and Geraldine spoke of Harry, his first wife Peggy and second wife Cynthia and shared a very personal view of the family whose legacy stands proud today on the site of their former summer home. In a special moment, the inscribed stone which Harry and Peggy placed in the garden of Dunrovin in 1948 was presented.
The official duties continued with words from Martin Donnelly the chair of the Dunrovin Development Committee and a speech from IWAI President Kay Baxter. Following the speeches, Kay Baxter along with past presidents, Alan Kelly, John Dolan, and Carmel Meegan (whose terms of office covered the Dunrovin development project ) cut the ribbon and declared IWAI HQ Dunrovin officially open.
The final duty was to hoist the IWAI flag, marking a very permanent and visible presence for IWAI in its new home on the site where it all began in 1954.
