Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities

MARINE TIMES NEWS July 7th:
Lough Swilly RNLI Coxswain retires after 30 years of voluntary service

On Tuesday [7 July] volunteer Coxswain Eamonn Mahon completed his last day of service on a training exercise aboard Lough Swilly RNLI’s Shannon class all-weather lifeboat Derek Bullivant.

There was a great welcoming party of family, friends and lifeboat colleagues on the pier to greet him on his return from the weekly Tuesday night exercise, just after 9:30pm.

During his time at the station, Eamonn has served on four different classes of lifeboats and seen many technological advancements, from the five metre 25 knot D-Class, to three generations of Atlantic Class lifeboats with speeds up to 35 knots, as well as the 47 foot Tyne class all-weather lifeboat, capable of speeds up to 18 knots to today’s 25 knot Shannon class lifeboat with jet propulsion.

Eamonn Mahon, in his 30 years has served as D-Class Helm, Atlantic Helm, All-Weather Lifeboat Navigator, Casualty Care, Coxswain, Rapid Response Team and Flood Rescue Team. He has guided crews through many challenging shouts and major incidents.

Speaking about his retirement from the crew, Eamonn said ‘it has been a wonderful opportunity to volunteer at Lough Swilly RNLI and whilst there have been tough days, there have also been many good days, but they were all privileged opportunities where we served and supported our community in Lough Swilly and the waters of the North West coast of Ireland.

‘None of this would have been possible without the great support from my wife Samantha and my children who have put up with a lot of absences from key family events, when the pager took precedence’.

Lough Swilly RNLI's Chairman, John McCarter paid tribute to Eamonn’s contribution: ‘We are truly grateful for Eamonn’s dedication to the many roles he has taken on at station in the last 30 years and we wish him well as he hangs up the pager and has more time to spend with his family and not worry about how far away the car is parked’.

Malin Head Coast Guard expressed their gratitude for his leadership and knowledge of the locality with a final VHF radio message as he safely steered the Shannon all-weather lifeboat back to the berth at Buncrana Pier for the last time.

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