‘Great day’ for fishing village as trial lifeboat service launched

A new lifeboat service went ‘live’ yesterday in a fishing village touched by one of the worst sea tragedies of recent years.

The RNLI officially put on service the Union Hall lifeboat station in West Cork — its 45th station in Ireland — marking the start of a two-year trial period.

The boat, Maritime Nation, which has come from the existing RNLI relief fleet and which was previously on service in Galway City, Red Bay in Co Antrim and Crosshaven in Cork, is now a declared search and rescue asset of the RNLI.