Boathouse facility is first of its kind

By Fiona Magennis, Drogheda Independent - Friday September 16th 2005

With a specially equipped relative's room and trained counsellors on hand at all times, The Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service's (BFRRS) new boathouse will be the first of its kind in Europe.

Currently under construction the new facility will house 16 boats as well as sleeping quarters for the crew, who will provide an on-call service at weekends, a medical room and a counselling room.

Members of the support group Families Who Have Lost Loved Ones in Drowning Tragedies (FLODT) have been undergoing training in counselling over the last number of months and will be on hand to provide much needed advice and support to families who face the loss of a loved one in the river.

They have been taking part in a counselling course and all of the people involved have been through it themselves so they know how hard it is on the family waiting for news, explained BFRRS spokesperson Richard Skelly. "Having this room means that relatives will have a place in here where they can have some counselling and a cup of tea instead of standing in the cold by the river waiting for news."

The new centre will also have a space for school visits where talks will be given to classes on Water Safety. This will be done in conjunction with The Water Safety Council.

In addition their will be an operational room as well as male and female changing rooms, toilets and a kitchen. Work on the new facility is well under way and the BFRRS say they hope to have it up and operational by Christmas.

The two acre site for the boathouse was donated to the service by Drogheda Borough Council (DBC) and work has started and offers of help have been flooding in. The site clearance was carried out by Pat Fallon, who will oversee the project until it is completed, the steel for the base of the building was donated by Jon Pentony, McManus tyres have just delivered 1,000 bricks for the building and Roadstone and Shannon Homes sponsored the concrete for the floor of the building.

A lot of local companies have been offering their services and we are very grateful for that. Finnan Humphries Architects and Engineers designed it for us and Frank Buckley is going to do all the electrical work. We also have 15 to 20 local brickies who have volunteered to do the brick work for free and Halco Hire have given us any equipment we need for free, said Richard.

The BFRRS themselves have spent €20,000 on stone for the building and said the would welcome any further offer of help from local tradesmen or businesses. For further information contact Michael Hodgins on 087-2334256

© Drogheda Independent