Christmas is a time when people gather to celebrate together and to switch off from work for a few days.
However, for those involved with emergency services and other vital supports throughout the community, they may often miss out on Christmas traditions, meals, and time with loved ones.
Their commitment and sacrifice ensures that help is always available to those who need it, when they need it.
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Helen Riddell caught up with some of those dedicated individuals recently.
Leo O’Shea
Picture: Anne Marie Cronin Photography
Leo O’Shea has been a member of the Castletownbere Coast Guard team for 14 years and is the Officer in Charge.
The team undertakes mountain and cliff rescues and prepares landings sites for the Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter throughout the Beara Peninsula and two offshore islands. The team also regularly assists the National Ambulance Service in extricating casualties from fishing vessels.
Ready to go at a moment’s notice every day of the year, Leo says that to date the Castletownbere team has not been called out on Christmas Day.
‘I spend Christmas Day with my family, but my phone and pager are always on, all of us on the team are ready to go when the pager goes off.’
With the scenic Beara Peninsula attracting hillwalkers all year round, Leo says a number of the team’s callouts are to assist walkers and he encourages those who are walking in the area, particularly in winter time when weather conditions are unpredictable, to take precautions.
‘Check forecasts before you set out, be prepared for your hike, and stay back from shorelines.’
Noreen Murphy
(Photo: Denis Boyle)Founded by Noreen Murphy in 2007, Lisheens House is a community-oriented mental health charity that offers free counselling, training, and support to those who are experiencing mental health issues.
The charity offers a free counselling service to anyone aged over the age of 12 who is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Those calling the helpline are given a 6-digit confidential client code to protect their anonymity and an appointment with a counsellor will be arranged for as near as possible to where they live.
Noreen says that the helpline number is operated throughout the Christmas period.
‘Our counsellors work from their own premises, our phonelines are open and people can call and we can then make arrangements for them to speak to a qualified therapist.’
Lisheens House also runs a centre in Ilen Street, Skibbereen which facilitates a wide range of complementary therapies.
As a charity, Noreen says Lisheens House is grateful for all the fundraising support it receives, and if individuals or companies would like to give to the service over the Christmas period they can do so via their website www.lisheenshouse.ie.
Helpline 023-888 8888.
Helen O’Driscoll
Helen O’Driscoll is the manager of the charity Cancer Connect which provides transport to Cork hospitals for cancer patients in West Cork.
Helen outlines that whilst no treatments take place on Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day and their office is closed these days, their phone lines are open over the Christmas period.
‘We stay on call over Christmas. Our drivers bring people to treatment on Christmas Eve, but then the hospitals stand treatments down for two days. We still operate our phone lines because if someone needs to talk about the logistics of their journey for treatment on December 27th, even though their transport will have been booked in advance, there could be a bad weather event they are worried about, they need to talk about it and we are there for them.’
Helen praises their volunteer drivers who are available over Christmas.
‘We always schedule our drivers in advance, apart from the two weeks of the Christmas period. We ask them to let us know if they are available to drive over Christmas and every single year we have too many drivers volunteering, that’s the time when we get the most offers with everyone wanting to help.’
Helen encourages people to donate to local charities this time of year instead of buying presents.
‘A lot of companies – instead of giving gifts to their clients – make a donation to us on their behalf. This sets us up for the New Year, we’re grateful for everything we receive.’
Tim Forde
In operation since 2014, Union Hall Lifeboat Station is the RNLI’s newest lifeboat station in Ireland.
Crew member Tim Forde has been with the station since it launched. Looking forward to a traditional family Christmas at home, Tim says the pager will be on as it is every day.
‘We haven’t been called out on Christmas Day so far, but whenever the pager goes off, all of us on the crew are ready to go.’
Based in a busy fishing village the nature of callouts have changed over the years explains Tim.
‘Where once we were responding to fishing vessels who needed assistance, but now with the increase in more leisure-based water sports we get a lot of callouts from paddle-boarders, sea swimmers and people enjoying other types of water sports who may have got into difficulty.’
He encourage those taking part in any outdoor activities over the Christmas period, particularly Christmas swims or walkers enjoying the area’s coastline, to take precautions.
‘Plan ahead, be aware of rising tides, and the weather and stay back from shorelines. What could look like idyllic weather when you set off can literally change by the hour and suddenly you’re faced with vicious conditions.’
