Naming and Dedication of Portrush lifeboat
Saturday, 16 April 2011 was a special day for The Lifeboat Fund and its Chair, Sir Peter Housden. It was also a very special day for the RNLI Lifeboat Station at Portrush, Northern Ireland, and for the local community there.
Sir Peter was in Portrush to name and hand over to the RNLI the latest lifeboat to be purchased by The Lifeboat Fund. The D-Class Lifeboat was built through more than £25,000 of public service donations to The Fund. The vessel was named "David Roulston" in memory of a Northern Ireland Tourist Board official who drowned off the Antrim coast; he was on the beach with his family, went out on a body board, but did not return. Sir Peter reflected afterwards, "The ceremony provided a salutary reminder of how much the RNLI can mean in saving lives. The vessel we provided is small and quick, and capable of getting in close to rocks and working in shallow water. It might well have saved David's life."
The maintenance and upkeep of the new lifeboat has been raised through over £25,000 donated by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board staff and their families. Many of them attended the ceremony, along with members of David Roulston's family. Mr Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of the NI Tourist Board unveiled a plaque in memory of his colleague and gave a moving address.
The "David Roulston" is the 52nd lifeboat to be purchased for the RNLI by The Communications and Public Service Lifeboat Fund since it began in 1866. We are extremely proud of that; and we know the new lifeboat will be a valuable asset to Portrush lifeboat station and to the entire community of those who work, and those who visit and take their recreation in the waters along that beautiful coastline.
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Echoing Sir Peter's words at the event, all of us at The Lifeboat Fund "wish Portrush's volunteer lifeboat crew many years of safe seas and successful rescues!".