President hails RNLI volunteer heroes
President Mary McAleese tonight rejected claims that Irish people were becoming more selfish as wealth spreads.
Opening the new headquarters of the RNLI in Dublin, the President said the 1,000 volunteer lifeboat crew members up and down the country were heroes.
Ms McAleese said the organisation was a classic example of the phenomenal, unselfish, generous voluntary endeavour in thousands of spheres that goes on in Ireland around the clock.
“There isn’t in any of it the remotest trace of exhibitionism or grandstanding. There is not in any of it an easy option, lazy cynicism,” she said.
“Here you will find authenticity, integrity, humility, spontaneous goodness and in this organisation in particular, you will find men and women who are prepared to risk their lives at any moment for people who may be complete strangers and even occasionally complete fools.”
“What you do is done the way heroes do things, quietly, self-effacingly and well.”
The President went on to dismiss the views of commentators who attacked Irish society for being consumer-driven and unconcerned with the wellbeing of others.
She said anyone who felt society had turned that way was utterly disconnected with everyday life.
“I have been listening to some of the comments made lately about the changes in Ireland these past 20 years and I was astounded to hear one commentator assert that we have become so selfish and preoccupied with consumerism that no-one does anything for anyone else any more,” she said.
“I know that to be untrue, and you know that to be untrue, and only someone utterly disconnected from the mainstream of everyday Irish life could believe it to be true.”
Last year RNLI lifeboat crews in Ireland launched 916 times, rescuing on average 22 people each week.
Ms McAleese noted the selfless work of the 1,000 volunteer crew members, most of whom are not from professional maritime backgrounds.
“You know the sea. You know its capriciousness. You know the frailty of boats and of human beings,” the President added.
“If there is fear you don’t look for an easy out. If there is discomfort you do not complain. If there is danger you face it, and by some miracle you get a deep personal fulfilment from all this giving, which keeps you involved, keeps you faithful to the RNLI often over a lifetime.”
