RNLI heroes ready for action

“If it goes off, it's just a given that I go – that's it.”

Those were the words of tenured navigator Dara Gannon, one of many brave Cork RNLI volunteers whose pagers will be fully charged on their belt this Christmas.

Dara, a global operations leader with General Electric Vernova by day, has been part of the Courtmacsherry lifeboat crew for 20 years.

As is the case all year round, if his trusty pager goes off on Christmas day, Dara will be poised to drop everything and make a dash for the local lifeboat station which is only a couple of hundred metres from his home.

Up to 20 crew members might turn up on a given callout, with only room for six on the boat.

“Everyone's on call pretty much all the time, if you can make it,” said Dara.

Having been part of the Courtmacsherry crew for more than two decades, Dara said volunteering is “certainly a family affair”.

“You kind of forget about the pager being there until it goes off.

“A pager going off in my house – everybody knows what it is; even the dogs what it is,” he said.

“It's just something that happens, it's a family thing.

“I have two brothers and a sister-in-law – I've a nephew – they're all in the group. My older brother is the coxswain; he's retiring next year.

“My son is 18 next year, so hopefully he'll join – one generation out, one generation in,” added Dara.

Although Christmas callouts are extremely rare, Dara said he will always be ready to go if and when the call comes.

“Pager goes - get in the car - drive to the lifeboat station,” said Dara.

“I would them immediately head for the crew changing room and start getting into my yellows,” he explained.

Dara’s ‘yellows’ are his all-weather gear, a crucial part of any rescue operation.

He continued: “As a navigator, I'd be going through my head – right, ten miles south of the Old Head, I'd be putting that position into the plotter to give direction to the helmsman.Then I have to give an ETA (estimated time of arrival) to the mechanic who will tell the coastguard.”

From the time Dara’s pager goes off, to the time the crew is slipping the moorings, is always under ten minutes, he said.

However, if no pager goes off, Dara said a perfect Christmas Day would be surrounded by family.

“Probably visiting my other family members around the village and have a few friends over – the usual.

“Just a nice, relaxing, quiet Christmas with plenty food and drink,” he said.