Organising Secretary for Ireland VERY few people who are not associ- ated with the Life-boat Service seem to know that the life-boats on the coasts of Eire are controlled by the Royal National Life-boat Institution, and that as far as the Life-boat Service is concerned no real distinction is made between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

There is a long established and splen- did tradition of life-boat service throughout Ireland. A station was established at Poolbeg, Co. Dublin, as early as 1820, and by 1826 six other stations, those at Arklow, Courtmac- sherry, Dun Laoghaire, Howth, New- castle and Rossglass had been estab- lished. Today there are twenty-two stations in Ireland.

In former times, before the long- range motor life-boats came into service, there were many more stations, and twenty-eight, including those at Ardmore, Carrickfergus, Drogheda, Fethard, Greystones, Queenstown, Tramore and Westport have now been closed. The present twenty-two stations do, in fact, cover the coast line more fully than the larger number of stations did in the past.

The Fethard Disaster There have been many famous services rendered by Irish life-boats.

One of the best known of all took place on the Wexford coast in 1914, when the Fethard life-boat capsized when going to the help of the Nor- wegian schooner Mexico. There were fourteen men in the Fethard boat, and of them nine were washed away and drowned. The remaining five managed to scramble on to an island where they remained, together with some survi- vors from the Mexico, almost without food and water for nearly three days.

One of the Mexico's crew died from cold and exposure, but all the others who had reached the island were eventually rescued by the Dunmore East and Wexford life-boats. After this disaster the Norwegian Parlia- ment took the unprecedented step of voting ten thousand crowns towards the relief of dependents of those life-boatmen who lost their lives.

In more recent years three Irish coxswains have been awarded the gold medal. In 1936 Patrick Sliney, of Ballycotton, Co. Cork, won the medal for a service which lasted some sixty-three hours and culminated in the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightvessel which had broken from her moorings in a gale. In 1940 John Boyle of Arranmore, Co. Donegal, was awarded the gold medal for the rescue of eighteen men by breeches buoy from the wreck of the Dutch steamer Stol-wijk.

Murphy's Gold Medal In 1942 the gold medal was awarded to Patrick Murphy of Newcastle, Co.

Down, who took his boat between rocks alongside the steamer Browning and realising that he could not repeat the manosuvre, accepted the risks of a return passage in a gale with as many as thirty-nine survivors on board. Another fine service which is still fresh in the memory of most people was the rescue of thirty-one survivors from the Princess Victoria by the Donaghadee life-boat.

The tradition of the Life-boat Ser- vice is as strong today in Ireland as ever it was, and in 1953 for instance, Irish life-boats rescued fifty-eight lives.

There has also been a gratifying increase in the last two years in the revenue from Ireland. For many years the total remained around £10,000, but in 1953 it reached £16,310.

Yet this is still a little less than half the cost of maintaining the twenty- two Irish life-boats.

A Welcome Improvement In the past the Irish revenue was derived mainly from quite a small number of long established branches.

In the unsettled atmosphere of the war and post-war years effort was concentrated more on consolidating the existing organisation than on expansion. The improvement in the past two years can probably be attributed in roughly equal shares to consolidation of established branches; to the opening of new branches and the holding of flag days where hitherto it had seemed that neither collectors nor contributors would be forthcoming; and to the generous public response evoked by the disaster to the Princess Victoria.

There is still plenty of scope for expansion of voluntary work and for an increase in subscriptions from Irish sources. Atfejn other districts, success will depend on the steady building up of such goodwill towards the Life-boat Service and understanding of its purpose as will win the support of all sections of the community..