Irish lifeboats saved 145 lives this year and assisted a further 528 people caught in "dangerous situations", according to provisional figures issued by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
This means the lives of 12 people were saved every month, and 44 people rescued, the RNLI said. There was a monthly average of 56 launches by the voluntary lifeboat crews.
The busiest four stations were the Aran Islands, with 38 services; Portrush, Co Antrim (34 services between offshore and inshore lifeboats); Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin (28 between both craft); and Galway city (25 services). Valentia lifeboat station in Co Kerry saved the most lives, at 22.
Provisional figures for the institution in Ireland and Britain indicate that RNLI crews responded to 5,119 calls, saving 951 lives and assisting a further 4,159. Pleasure craft accounted for almost half of the call-outs, while commercial and fishing craft, and people swimming or stranded by the tide, each accounted for 27 per cent of calls.
Next year the RNLI celebrates its 175th anniversary. Founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824, it has saved more than 132,000 lives to date, more than 8,300 of these by Irish crews. It has retained voluntary status, with crews manning 46 craft at 38 stations on the Irish coast. Recently Sligo Bay was confirmed as the latest permanent Irish station.
