The German Government is to decorate a retired boat-builder in Cong, Co Mayo, tomorrow for his rescue of 14 German students on Lough Corrib last year.
Mr Tony Youlten (65) is to be presented with the medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at a ceremony in Ashford Castle. Mr Youlten says the students would have drowned if they had not been wearing lifejackets, the use of which he believes should be compulsory.
The retired boat-builder and keen angler lives on a 32-ft wooden boat on the Corrib and has been a resident of the lake for 27 years. He was heading out to an island on July 30th last year, when he noticed that something was wrong.
"It looked like a row of footballs in the water," he told The Irish Times. "I pulled out my binoculars and I could hardly believe what I saw. There was a line of them in the water, holding hands and their canoes were scattered all over the place." Three of the students were in the early stages of hypothermia when he rescued all 14.
"Canoeing is really not suitable on Lough Corrib because it can blow up so quickly. A 2-foot wave would be enough to sink such a fragile craft," Mr Youlten said. He believes that canoes should be banned from lakes such as the Corrib, but says there have been several other incidents on the lake since last year.
The award is to be presented to him by the German honorary consul, Mr Philipp Hergett, on behalf of the German President, Mr Johannes Rau. The medal is being given for a "most decisive life-saving action on that day".
Mr Youlten said he was "flabbergasted" to have received the award. He is also due to be recognised by Irish Water Safety, the statutory body established to promote water safety in the State, in September. His 89-year-old mother, Mrs Dorothy Youlten, is due to attend the ceremony, as is his brother.
Mr Youlten, who is originally from England, said he fell in love with the Corrib after an angling trip in 1955 and returned in 1960 to settle here. He has lived on two wooden boats on the lake and it was his current vessel, Hollandia, which took the students in.
Mr John Leech, chief executive of Irish Water Safety, will to attend tomorrow's ceremony. He said there were 86 drownings in Ireland last year. "The successful rescue of all 14 scouts is proof positive that wearing a lifejacket will help save lives. We will see a decrease in the number of accidental drownings when we see an increase in the number of people wearing one."