Four locals honoured at water safety awards for Mullingar lake rescue
Two members of Mullingar Sailing Club and two members of An Garda Síochána have received a national honour for their actions in saving the life of a man who got into difficulties at Lough Owel just over two years ago.
Kieran Milner and Pat McArdle, both members of the sailing club, and Gardaí Claire Davis and Garda Nora Cloherty were presented with Rescue Appreciation awards at the Water Safety Ireland national awards ceremony, which was held at the Printworks Event and Exhibition Centre, Dublin Castle on Tuesday last, November 14.
Mr Milner from Knockdrin, is a retired defence forces commandant, and Mr McArdle, from Kilpatrick, is a retired veterinary surgeon. Garda Davis, originally from Tullamore, has since transferred from Mullingar Garda Station to Portarlington; Garda Cloherty, a Galway native, is a member of Mullingar Community Policing.
The man, who is understood to have been in a distressed state at the time, entered the water at the Diving Board at Portnashangan in June 2021.
Alerted to the crisis, the gardaí and the sailing club members launched a speedboat to rush to the aid of the man, who had swum almost as far as Church Island by the time the rescue party reached him.
The four succeeded in bringing the man to shore at the diving board where crews from the Fire Service and the National Ambulance Service were in attendance, and the man was brought to the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar for treatment.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner days after the rescue in 2021, Kieran Milner revealed that from the time the call asking for the help of the Sailing Club was received to delivery of the man back to shore, just 25 minutes had elapsed.
He said that he and Pat responded quickly when the request came: “We have a RIB (a rigid inflatable boat) on standby all the time, and it only takes a few minutes to get it out and to get the lifejackets.”
The craft is capable of covering the length of Lough Owel in just four minutes and so once out on the waters, they quickly spotted the man near Church Island – around half a mile from the shore, and succeeded in getting him in to the boat and back to safety. The man was taken to hospital where he made a full recovery.
This was not the first time the help of the sailing club has been called upon to assist in rescues, Mr Milner added.
A garda spokesperson had warm praise for his two colleagues at the time of the rescue: “It’s a clear example of excellent policework [and] they will definitely be receiving a commendation for their excellent work: by their actions a man’s life has been saved: you can’t ask any more of a member of An Garda Siochána than that.”
The garda spokesperson also paid tribute to all others involved in the action: “Through the assistance of The Sailing Club, the fire units, local water safety services – all the stakeholders came together, especially the Sailing Club and it was through this that they were able to assist us in bringing this to a conclusion.”
Mullingar connection
Another award recipient at the ceremony was Garda Kevin Fitzpatrick of the Kilkenny Division who began his career in Mullingar.
Garda Fitzpatrick, a native of Portlaoise, received a Just In Time award, with colleague Sergeant John O’Sullivan who sprang into action when they were notified of a male and female in distress in the River Barrow. Sergeant O’Sullivan, who is a strong swimmer entered the water in a bid to reach the male.
Garda Fitzpatrick retrieved a lifebuoy and swam over to both the male and Sergeant O’Sullivan. Both Gardaí pulled the male onto the bank to safety. The female had managed to make her way safety onto the riverbank on the opposite side of the river. The male and female were both taken to hospital and treated appropriately. Both made a full recovery.