Arranmore native Seán Gallagher has become the newest member of the Arranmore RNLI.
Seán is a teacher at Colaiste na Carraige, and decided to volunteer with the Arranmore RNLI upon returning back to the island after living in Glasgow after graduating university.
He and his partner decided to return to Donegal in 2020, and decided to start living in Arranmore two years afterwards, making the commute to work by boat and car.
“Having been brought up with boats I always wanted to be part of an organisation that is an integral part of the community and family” Seán said. “My uncle Tony Gallagher served on the lifeboat and was involved in many rescues. In the latter years he was the Launch Operations Manager and promoted the work of the Arranmore RNLI at every opportunity.”
I always had the utmost respect for the work that the RNLI crew do and heard stories from my uncle of the dedication and selflessness of the crew and really wanted to become part of that team but was unable to do so until I returned to Arranmore, in fact I had my application in before I returned to the island and now I am so proud to have my pager, I haven’t been on a call out yet but I have been out on training exercises. The training involved is the Operational Competence Framework which involves self study, on-line study, formal instructions, peer to peer training, and continuous training on the job. I hope when I do answer my first call out I will be up to the job as the training equips all the crew to be competent in all aspects of saving lives, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Seán is now the twenty-second crew member of the Arranmore RNLI crew, but isn’t the only new addition incoming to the service as their new boathouse is also nearing completion.
Crew members are currently operating out of portacabins, but that is soon to change.
Coxswain Jimmy Early said “We are really looking forward to moving into the new building, this will be the biggest station we will be operating out of on Arranmore and we appreciate the care and consideration the RNLI are taking to help us in our work. I would like to welcome Seán on to the crew, like all our volunteers who give up many hours of their time to train and answer the call out we are really appreciative of their commitment and dedication to saving lives at sea. We welcome all volunteers who are willing to help with the service in any way, be it serving on the crew, fundraising, donating money. It is the public and volunteers who help us keep the boats afloat and save lives.”
