One hundred volunteers will swim across Dingle Bay on Sunday week to raise funds for one of the most important but seriously underfunded rescue services in the State - the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team.
It should bring gasps of amazement to hear that funding for the voluntary organisation is so paltry. An annual grant of £1,000 is made available by the local authority in Kerry. A further grant of £3,000 comes from Government coffers. The combined figure covers the team's insurance costs. But the running cost of £30,000 must be found by the team itself.
It all seems so paltry for a rescue team that carries out Trojan work and begs the question - if the 30 volunteers who make up the team and give their time readily to bring people from peril did not bother - who would?
Would there be a local State-sponsored rescue service on hand to scale the mountains in difficult conditions? It's doubtful. It's because the rescue service - an absolutely vital one in the area - has to be kept going that such a large number of swimmers will brave the waves on September 6th.
The Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, as it is known today, grew out of the Laune Mountaineering Club in Killorglin, back in 1966. The annual running cost is as high as it is for safety reasons.
Mountaineering gear has a shelf life - it must be upgraded constantly to ensure that when the rescuers set forth, at a very minimum, they have every confidence in their equipment.
In Easter 1966 the body of an English climber was recovered from Carrauntoohil. At the same time, a UCD student went missing on the mountain. His remains were recovered seven months later. It drove home to those in Kerry with an interest in outdoor pursuits that a co-ordinated approach was needed. Since its foundation, the team has been called out more than 200 times. The highest number of call-outs in one year was 18. Two was the lowest. During that time there have been 35 fatalities and more than 100 rescues.
If the people stuck by accident on the ledges and the peaks, and sometimes not by accident at all, but because of stupidity, knew that their lives were in the hands of unpaid volunteers - what would they think as the mists roll in and the gloom gathers? If they depended solely on the stark statistics, probably, they would not be reassured. They are lucky their lives end up in the hands of people so highly trained and so willing to come to their aid .
Members of the team have a background in and knowledge of mountaineering. That's the basic requirement but it does not automatically entitle one to become a team member. Anyone seeking membership is assessed and a rigorous training programme must be undergone before the team organisers are satisfied. The training includes going to the mountains in the most severe weather conditions, so when the real thing happens, those who must brave the worst know exactly what to expect and how to react.
The team hopes the Dingle Bay swim, from Inch Beach to Rossbeigh on the other side, will raise £10,000 towards its annual costs. On the morning of the swim, the volunteers will arrive at one side of Inch and walk a couple of miles to the other before braving the waves. And there is another reason for the swim.
Recently, the team acquired a second-hand Mercedes four-wheel-drive truck, bought in Germany at a cost of £12,000. This is the kind of vehicle which does not quite climb mountains but negotiates dirt tracks in pretty inaccessible places.
Each member of the team has a pager. The call-out system starts when a designated team controller receives the first alarm call - usually from local gardai. Maureen O'Reilly, the Killarney-based call-out officer, then makes contact with the volunteers to put them on stand-by. The follow-up call tells them where to rendezvous, and at that point it is decided who will go.
Christy McCarthy, the public relations officer, says the team suffers from the same under funding problem that faces most voluntary services in the State. That is why church-gate collections and flag days have to be organised: extraordinary that such a valuable service is reduced to this.