350 rescues from voluntary service

Since Kilkee Marine Rescue Service was established by Manuel Di Lucia in 1982, the voluntary organisation has rescued between 350 to 400 people from the West Clare coast.
Currently, the organisation is recruiting new members, up to a dozen of whom are undergoing specialist training.
“We’re training about 10 to 12 young local people and people from outside to carry out the functions of the rescue service. We have a trainer coming in from Killaloe. He comes down every Wednesday evening because we have to upskill them to a certain grade,” Manuel, who is the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service PRO, explained. The service has called on approximately 40 volunteers at the moment.
“At any one time, when there is an incident here, maybe 20 to 25 members would turn up, including maybe two or three crews. I think we have in the region of a dozen coxens who are capable of taking the boat out. The chief coxen is Kieran de Loughrey. He would assist in the training. We use two boats in the training including one of the boats from the dive centre. Some of the crew in the dive centre are also members of the rescue service,” Manuel added.
Kilkee businessman John Nolan is the organisation’s launch authority, which means that he is the point of contact in the event of a call out. However, he says that a high percentage of serious incidents on the water wouldn’t happen if people were properly prepared.
“If people just took time to examine their boats, examine their engines and got them checked once or twice a year, you wouldn’t have half the problems. Also, if they wore the proper gear going out, including life jackets and had radios; a lot of them only use mobile phones,” John stated.
Kilkee Marine Rescue Service is funded by a combination of flag days, functions and proceeds from collection boxes placed in Kilkee shops and pubs.
“We have a lot of new members coming in, who are very, very interested and very keen. All the visitors coming into the town also support us financially,” John added.
On July 9, a joint fundraiser involving Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and Kilkee Sub Aqua Club will be held in Myles Creek, Kilkee.
Mr di Lucia said that, in his experience, the number of call outs has decreased in recent years.
“It hasn’t been too bad because I think people are copping on to the fact that the sea is dangerous. Most of the incidents are with non-nationals,” he explained.
Three years ago, Manuel was invited to give a talk at Moneypoint power station on the dangers associated with the West Clare coast. This was because many people working at the station were not aware of the perils of fishing in West Clare.
“These people were getting wiped out because they hadn’t a clue about the environment that they were putting themselves into; putting themselves in serious danger and at risk. So Shay Hynes invited me down to Moneypoint to give a talk about the dangers of fishing off the cliffs of the West coast of Clare. I was there for approximately one hour, drilling it into them the fact that it is dangerous to go fishing on the cliffs of county Clare if you don’t know what you’re doing. You have to understand the tides, you have to understand the weather. For about two years after that there was no incident. So it must have gotten through to them,” Manuel said.
He said that Kilkee Sub Aqua Club play a very important role in recovering people who are lost at sea.
“We rely on Kilkee Subs Aqua Club when it’s a recovery. If we don’t affect a rescue, it’s downgraded then to a recovery. They have been instrumental in recovering a lot of lost souls in the area.
“It is very high risk for somebody to go out there, dive into 140 feet of water and search for a lost soul.
But it’s very rewarding in the end when you find this lost soul and you return them to their family,” he said.