FERMANAGH’S life-saving volunteers joined in the launch of the RNLI 200th anniversary celebrations in Belfast this week.
Stephen McMaster from the Carrybridge RNLI crew and Alan Shaw from the Enniskillen RNLI crew were among volunteers from crews across the North to take part in the launch of the commemorative events at Belfast Harbour on Monday this week (March 4).
Founded in 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Henry, who witnessed many shipwrecks on the Isle of Man, the RNLI has saved an incredible 146,277 lives over the past two centuries.
Operated by volunteers at crews across the UK and Ireland, and relying entirely on donations from the public, here in the North the RNLI’s ten lifeboat stations have launched 9,472 times, saving 1,535 lives, and coming to the aid of many thousands more.
The first RNLI station in Fermanagh was established on Lough Erne in 2001, becoming the charity’s first in-land station in the North. There are now two stations in the county, at Carrybridge, covering the Upper Erne, and Enniskillen, covering the Lower Erne.
Speaking at Monday’s event, RNLI trustee Paddy McLaughlin said it was “an honour and a privilege” to see the charity reach its bicentenary.
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