The Spar Panto Beauty and the Beast cast in full costume for the launch of the show in King John’s Castle. Picture: Sean Curtin / True Media.

This past Friday at the Limerick Strand Hotel, Limerick Marine Search and Rescue Service hosted a glamorous LMSR Black Tie Ball in celebration of their 30 years in service since their establishment in 1986.

Richard Lynch of ILoveLimerick.com hosted the event, “I am so thrilled to be here tonight and I’m honoured to work with Limerick Marine Search and Rescue. They protect us and keep us safe.”

Joe Morgan, Chairman of Limerick Marine Search and Rescue, who organised the LMSR Black Tie Ball, then presented Richard and the team of ILoveLimerick.com with a special plaque thanking them for the new website that they built for LMSR and the ongoing publicity and marketing they offer to the charity.

Joe spoke about the honour of working with LMSR, “I think it’s important to recognise that there has been a lot of members in and out of the service over the last thirty years. The one thing they had in common was to improve the service and to save lives in the water and bring people who are lost back to their families. I would like to thank each and every member, past and present, for bringing Limerick Marine Search and Rescue to the level it is at today.”

Joe invited Michael o’Hanlon, Mayor for Metropolitan District of Limerick to say a few words about the work the volunteers at Limerick Marine Search and Rescue do. “I honestly believe the people who volunteer for the service are very courageous people, I’m not too sure if many of us would do the same. The work they do takes commitment and dedication to put your own life at risk for somebody else in distress.

Other guest speakers included Ger O’Flynn from the Irish Coastguard and John Leech from Irish Water Safety who congratulated LMSR for their service, “I want to congratulate Limerick Marine Search and Rescue for 30 years of saving lives, body recovery and moving with the times and improving constantly in term and training and equipment.”

Martin Quinn, Jimmy Connors and Tony Cusack, the three founding members of LMSR were presented with three bronze trophies for their contribution to the history of the charity.

Jimmy said, “30 years on and we’re stronger than ever. We feel so proud that the people of Limerick helped to create it. We are so grateful to JP McManus and to the other people who have given us big donations to keep us afloat but also to the people of Limerick for keeping our dream alive. To see it grow from here, for it to go further, is incredible.”

Tony added, “It’s the next generation of volunteers like my son Tommy who will carry on the tradition and keep the work going that started with us 30 years ago. New volunteers are the lifeblood of the organisation and we welcome anyone to join us who have the passion and share our goal to keep the waters of our beloved River Shannon safe.”

Check out Limerick Marine Search and Rescue Service website here.

Follow Limerick Marine Search and Rescue on Facebook.

For our previous story on LMSR Black Tie Ball from I Love Limerick click here.

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Photos: Cian Reinhardt / ilovelimerick