Arranmore RNLI has welcomed two new crew members for 2025.
New crew members Pat Boyle and partner Julie Savoie will join the Arranmore RNLI as fully qualified members in January.
Pat is no stranger to Arranmore as he lived on the island with his parents on returning from Scotland.
Pat’s father still lives on the island and he and Julie decided to make Arranmore their home following years working and living in Canada, (where Julie was born), America, Australia, Hong Kong and various other countries.
Both Pat and Julie said: “We were getting tired of the rat race and while spending a week on Arranmore post-Covid, we decided to make the transition to the more peaceful lifestyle and sense of community on the island. We moved in September 2023 and having settled in we signed up to join the lifeboat crew in 2024 as people were so kind to us and we wanted to be part of the community and especially this lifesaving service that has been saving lives around the coastline for 200 years.”
Julie continued, “The training is excellent and all crew members are trained in all aspects of saving lives at sea. It is a privilege to be part of the RNLI and meeting like-minded people whose one aim is to save lives. We spent some time at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Cork doing sea survival training along with crews from all over Ireland which was a fantastic experience.”
Both Pat and Julie said they are looking forward to their new lives on Arranmore and are currently looking for a site to build their permanent home.
