On Friday, February 28, Arklow RNLI’s longest serving operations volunteer Mr Jimmy Tyrrell retired from his position after 46 years at the helm.
There was standing room only in the Arklow Sailing Club as people came from far and wide to mark the occasion, with plenty of messages read out from people who were unable to attend.
Jimmy took the floor and spoke “briefly” about his 46 years as a volunteer at Ireland’s oldest RNLI Lifeboat station, talking through the history of the station and his family’s long association with it, right up to date with his delight at seeing the RNLI’s newest lifeboat named for the River Shannon and the recently published book by Jim Rees, “ To the Banks & Beyond”.
Towards the end of his speech Jimmy formally handed over his callout pager to Mr John Tyrrell who has taken over as Lifeboat Operations Manager and then received a standing ovation.
An emotional Jimmy wished John and all of our volunteers the very best of luck and said: “Without the support of our lifeboating familes, spouses and friends, our volunteers cannot give of themselves. Thank you to all of our families.”
