Inset: Paddy McLaughlin from RNLI Red Bay, County Antrim
Stories of lifeboat building and a novel approach to a water safety campaign will be told this week by Peter Eyre and Paddy McLaughlin on the RNLI 200 Voices platform.
Peter, a former RNLI naval architect tells of how his design was the one accepted for a new all-weather lifeboat for the charity.
In Grand Designs we hear the story of the creation design and development of the Shannon class, all the RNLI all-weather fleet are named after rivers. Describing it as the ‘pinnacle of my career’ Peter takes us from first draft to first launch.
The podcast will be available on the RNLI 200 Voices platform from Thursday 19 October.
The RNLI’s ‘Float to Live’ message is at the heart of Stronger Together by Paddy McLaughlin.
Paddy McLaughlin from RNLI Red Bay, County Antrim
A volunteer helm at Red Bay, Paddy is also a trustee of the RNLI. In this episode he tells how a unique partnership between the charity and the Gaelic Athletic Association has grown.
There have been up to 120 accidental drownings on the island of Ireland every year. Following one of these tragedies involving a GAA club member this partnership was born.
Paddy tells of important water safety messages delivered on big days in Croke Park and the potential for expansion with 330 GAA clubs within a 10km radius of one of the 46 lifeboat stations in Ireland. Stronger Together can be heard on 200 Voices from Friday next 20 October.
Among the episodes from across Ireland already available to listen to on the RNLI 200 Voices podcast are:
• Niamh Fitzpatrick Remembers One of Our Own, a personal reflection on how after losing her sister Dara at sea, Niamh talks about how much the RNLI means to her.
• Road to Recovery, Portrush lifeguard Annie Jagoe on how paths cross when a casualty she rescued makes it back to the water.
• Fr. Tom Dalton, a Courtown RNLI crew member where the Co. Wexford priest describes what is like when rescue turns into recovery in Pulling Together.
• In The Calm Before Force 10 Baltimore RNLI’s Kieran Cotter remembers an event that was to change yacht racing forever, the 1979 Fastnet tragedy the fateful call out and the response to the disaster.
• Storms & Teacups, former President Mary McAleese reflects on the role of RNLI in the community
• The challenge of saving lives in a remote place is the theme of Outer Limits by Aran Islands doctor Marion Broderick.
In Float to Live Lough Derg volunteer helm and poet describes her experience of being on both sides of a rescue.
The unique podcast series hears from people connected to the RNLI in Ireland and those whose lives have been touched by the lifesaving charity.
Hear from locals with a special kinship to their lifeboat station, a crew member who’s been on service for a generation, or the family of someone rescued by an RNLI frontline lifesaver – each episode is sure to take the listener on a journey through a touching story.
Later in the autumn the series will also hear from celebrity ambassadors including musician Phil Coulter on his writing of the RNLI anthem ‘Home from the Sea’.
Available across all podcast platforms and the RNLI’s website, listeners can hear from survivors, supporters, volunteers, lifeguards, celebrity ambassadors, historians and many more from across Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond.
Launch into a podcast like no other: Listen to the RNLI’s 200 Voices daily, wherever you get your podcasts or at RNLI.org/200Voices.
To find out more about the RNLI’s bicentenary, visit www.RNLI.org/200.