Fundraiser for lifeboat Cill Dara launched

Brian Bradshaw, Dee Huddleston, John Geraghty, Andy Ennis, John Fitzmaurice, Marion Bagnall, Pat Stafford, Lynne Geraghty, David Sherwood and Edel Ennis.

Kilcullen was well represented by the Stafford family at yesterday's launch of a Kildare-wide campaign to fund a new inshore lifeboat for the Wexford RNLI station, writes Brian Byrne. Since his retirement from Kildare Credit Union in 2020, Pat Stafford has been a fundraiser for the volunteer lifeboat service that has saved thousands of lives off Ireland's shores and in the country's inland waterways. 

The campaign is looking to raise €117,000 for a D-class rigid boat which these days is the workhorse of the RNLI and responsible for 70pc of rescue work. The boat will be called the Cill Dara and the event at the Lock 13 Gastropub in Sallins was supported by crew members of the Wexford lifeboat station who brought their D-class relief boat to show people just what their donations will provide. The latest fundraising is a project of the North Kildare RNLI fundraising branch to mark the 200 years of the independent life-saving service. 

The volunteer lifeboat crew with Wexford RNLI have launched on service 313 times since 2002, rescuing 258 people and saving 18 lives. Station crew member Sinead Casey told those present how much she and her colleagues appreciate their support. "When the Coast Guard set off this we don't know where we're going or what's going to happen," she said, raising her pager to the gathering. "But we get kitted out and are gone to sea thanks to the support we get from people like you."

The 46 RNLI stations on the island of Ireland and their 62 lifeboats are part of a network of some 240 stations serving sailors around Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Brian Bradshaw of the Cill Dara Appeal emphasised that the RNLI is independent of any government and is a charitable institute which depends solely on the goodwill of donors. He recalled that the Kildare group have a special affinity with the Wexford Station because a D-class was provided in 2005 by the family of one of the group's fundraisers who had died suddenly. 

Niamh Stephenson of RNLI Ireland told those at the event that they were an 'amazing' link in an 'incredible' organisation that would be very hard to establish from scratch today. "Imagine asking people to give up so much of their time to help people that they do not know, that they may never see again?" She said the crew call the D-class the 'pocket rocket'. "They love their years in the D-class and feel a very close bond with their donors, many of whom contribute with legacies after their death. You'll often see their donors' pictures in the station, and the crew will always be able to tell their stories."

Sinead Casey said that as a sailor and a swimmer with skills garnered over years, she volunteers because she wants to give something back to those who get into difficulties at sea. She said she and her colleagues are delighted to be able to commit to many hours of training and the rescue work. "We also especially want to thank you, our crew of fundraisers in Kildare, for taking on this initiative to support us."

Brian Bradshaw noted the 'very successful' recent Christmas concert towards the Cill Dara Appeal organised by Bernie Greene and Mick Byrne and outlined a programme that will include further concerts, a cookery demonstration by Chef Edward Hayden on 2 April at the Killashee Hotel, and a Table Quiz on 21 March as well as a Race Night and a Golf Classic. 

"This is a very noble and worthwhile organisation and worth supporting," says Pat Stafford, who attended in Sallins with his wife Bernadette and son Niall and his wife Fiona. Details of the appeal are available on RNLI.org/CillDara.

The D-class boat from Dunmore East.

Niall Stafford, Fiona Kearns Stafford, and Bernadette and Pat Stafford.

Brian Bradshaw from the North Kildare RNLI Fundraising Committee; Niamh Stephenson, Media Manager for the RNLI in Ireland; and volunteer Sinead Casey of the Wexford Lifeboat crew.

The campaign 'thermometer'.

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