Great news for Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon as Lough Ree RNLI fundraising reaches €100,000 target for new lifeboat station

Lough Ree RNLI marked a significant milestone on Monday last (October 17) when a cheque for €100,000 was presented to the RNLI as the local community contribution to the overall €1.2m cost of the new lifeboat station on a site donated by the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland.

The presentation was made by Michael Ganly, Chairman of the Lough Ree RNLI Appeal Committee to Anna Classon, Head of Ireland, RNLI.

On her first visit to the new lifeboat station Anna Classon said she was ‘really impressed by the partnership between the RNLI and the IWAI and to see two great organisations sharing resources for the benefit of the community.’

The community contribution was the result of a fundraising campaign, which ran for more than twelve months, and was supported by community groups, the corporate sector, and a host of individuals for the lakeside community and beyond.

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Presenting the cheque, the Chairman of the Lough Ree RNLI Appeal Committee Michael Ganly said: ‘the work of people like committee secretary Pauline Irwin and all others involved was crucial to the success of the venture.’

Caption: Anna Classon, Head of Ireland, RNLI accepting cheque from Michael Ganly, Chairman, Lough Ree RNLI Appeal Fund. 

The new lifeboat station has been very active this year and has been a particular asset to the 46 volunteer crew as the charity and its lifeboat ‘Tara Scougall’ responded to 46 callouts in the year to date.

Reflecting on the successful fund-raising campaign the Treasurer of Lough Ree RNLI Vincent Rafter thanked: ‘all the ‘Go Fund Me’ campaigns, tests of endurance and anonymous donors who contributed amounts large and small to this special community initiative.’

Main Photo caption: Lough Ree RNLI volunteers, supporters and staff at the presentation: Front l to r; Mary Hearty, Vincent Rafter, Pauline Irwin, Michael Ganly, Anna Classon, Kevin Ganly and Damien Delaney. Back;Tom McGuire, Peter Harty, Tony McCarth, Brian Wilson and Jude Kilmartin