A County Clare priest who has worked as a part-time lifeboat volunteer has now been qualified to lead marine rescue missions. Fr Michael Collins undertook a course in maritime life-saving in Poole in Dorset last November and has now been approved to lead rescue missions following an assessment of his emergency exercise skills.
He is now one of seven people qualified to command sea rescue missions with the Kilrush RNLI.
Fr Collins, who is based in Kilrush, said he had no interest in boating until he was invited out by the RNLI to see their work.
“A bit of fly-fishing was the height of it before that for me,” he said last week, but added that “when you live in a community you want to become more involved, to give something back”.
“So when the lads suggested I train as crew, it went from there”.
Fr Collins said it was a privilege to be part of such a dedicated team and that it was “great to be able to come to help someone in trouble”.
But while Fr Collins is now on-call to lead rescue missions to help people in difficulty at sea, he said it will not take precedence over his clerical duties.
“If I’m saying Mass, the lads on the team would know not to call me and get in touch with someone else”.
“There are obviously sometimes you can’t be available – that’s true for all volunteers,” he added.
He explained that RNLI rescue volunteers undergo regular training updates and that at six-week intervals, assessors come to re-inspect their skills.
But except where it conflicts with his job as a priest, Fr Collins said he is more than happy to devote the time to the RNLI.
“If you feel something is worthwhile, then you make time for it and I definitely think this is worthwhile”.
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