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Rescue service celebrates 25 years

This article is from page 36 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG

A MILESTONE in the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service was marked last week as its 25th anniversary was celebrated at a function in the Kilkee SE Wa elke

Since the voluntary service was established by Manuel di Lucia in 1982, it has been responsible for saving no fewer than 300 lives, while its members rescued up to 30 people from the sea.

‘The service has been serving the people for the past 25 years, not alone the local fishing community, but also tourists,” said Mr di Lucia.

As he 1s a diver 1n the local area, Mr

di Lucia was frequently called upon when someone would go missing over the years. Given the frequency of the calls, he felt there was a need for the service to be established.

aU INAS b0tl MEANS Komm c- Kom: IED e-hSCol@ AYA | would get a call. My boat would be laid up for the winter so I would have to get somebody who had a function- ing boat,” he said.

In an effort to provide training for the service’s members, Mr di Lu- cia set up Kilkee sub-aqua club in October 1982. Hundreds of people were trained through the club over the years and this training has been crucial in many lives being saved at sea. “Moneypoint was a great

source of members. A lot of young people came to Moneypoint in the early years and got involved in the Service,’ he said.

Mr di Lucia has himself been in- volved in dozens of rescues since the 1960s and his work was honoured with a presentation at the function last week. He was the first chief coxswain with the service. The first crew members, Joe Haugh and Ea- mon Murnane, were also honoured with presentations, as was the cur- rent chairman, John Nolan.

Four former members who have passed away — Ian Benson, JJ Har- rington, Seamus Byrne and Michael O’Gorman — were also remembered

by the 150 people who attended the aubeTeinCOyee

Presently, there are 50 members of the service and Mr di Lucia, who is the current PRO, said it can be difficult to recruit new people.

“The rescue service can sometimes be taken for granted. There is more recognition for sports stars than for the rescue services. While we have members as young as 16, there is a little bit of a struggle at the moment, trying to get new members into the Service,’ he said.

While the service is mainly volun- tary, some funding has been made available from the Department of the Marine over the years.

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