A man overboard exercise with Antrim’s Red Bay all-weather lifeboat and the experience of a dog walker rescued by Cork Harbour’s Crosshaven lifeboat are among topics on tonight’s (Fri, March 22) RTÉ Radio 1 special issue of Seascapes.
The programme, which is the second in a three-part series marking the bicentenary of the RNLI, will also hear how sea shanties have become “cool”, thanks to Tik Tok and Covid-19.
Singer Hugh O’Neill of the Buoys of Ballisodare explains how the annual Wild Atlantic Shanty Festival in Rosses Point came about and how it raises funds for the Sligo lifeboat.
The RNLI’s Red Bay station serves the beautiful but often treacherous north-east coast, extending sometimes to Scotland, and it has both an all-weather and inshore craft.
Crew at the RNLI’s Red Bay station in Cushendall, County Antrim Photo: Niamh Stephenson
Programme presenter Lorna Siggins joined McLaughlin and lifeboat operations manager Kevin Allen, mechanic Liam O’Brien, navigator Sinéad Sharpe and crew Stephen Conway, Paddy O’Hagan, Gareth McAllister and RNLI press officer Niamh Stephenson on a training exercise in Red Bay last Sunday.
The Red Bay RNLI lifeboats at Cushendall Photo: Niamh Stephenson
The station recently lost one of its most experienced members, coxswain Gary Fyfe. His colleague and RNLI trustee, Paddy McLaughlin, talks on tonight’s episode about Fyfe’s enormous contribution to the Cushendall community.
Laura O’Mahony is also interviewed about her experience 14 years ago, when she and her red setter Sam were rescued by the Crosshaven lifeboat.
Seascapes, produced by Brian Lally with sound by John Doyle, is on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday night at 10.30pm, and on the RTE Radio 1 App and the RTÉ Player.
