Six years after Caitriona Lucas became the first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die during active service, a documentary is due to be aired on Clare FM Radio today, September 12th, on her life.
“Caitriona was a hero...she should always be remembered,” programme director Padraic Flaherty has said of the hour-long documentary, which was made with the support of Ms Lucas’s family.
Ms Lucas (41), a librarian, mother of two, and advanced coxswain from Liscannor, Co Clare, had offered to help out the neighbouring Irish Coast Guard Kilkee unit in a search for a missing man on September 12th, 2016.
She hadn’t expected to go to sea, but the unit was short a crew member. She died after the Kilkee rigid inflatable boat (Rib) capsized in a shallow surf zone. Two other crew members survived.
Two years ago, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided that no criminal charges should be brought in relation to the incident after a report was forwarded to it by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
The unpublished HSA report was one of two separate investigations. The second report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) proved so contentious that it had to be published in two parts, and the responses to the draft were longer than the report itself.
Ms Lucas’s husband, Bernard, who was one of a number to raise questions about the MCIB report, told Clare FM that the new radio documentary was very emotional for him to hear.
However, he said it also recorded many positive memories of his late wife.
“There was a laugh in it... and good memories,” he told Clare FM last week.
Saying “no” to any request for help “wasn’t an option” for his late wife, Bernard noted, recalling her commitment to the Irish Coast Guard and Search and Rescue Dog Association.
He said he hoped people would realise how rewarding it is to give back to the community.
Padraic Flaherty said it was a great privilege to put the documentary together, and credited Bernard with providing him with contacts for family and friends.
Flaherty said he didn’t think anyone in the county and country would ever forget September 12th, 2016, when Ms Lucas lost her life.
“Caitriona was a hero...she should always be remembered,” Flaherty said.
“Catriona Lucas, Fearless” airs on Clare FM’s Morning Focus this Monday morning, September 12th from 11 am.
Listen to the preview of the documentary on Clare FM here