I'd like to echo the many posts who have emphasised what a remarkable job the RNLI does. Coastal safety seems to be one of the few issues in Irish and British affairs that transcends politics, at least to a great extent. I guess the sea puts other things in perspective. I know that the Irish government has been buying new helicopters recently and that air-sea rescue will probably figure in their role. Not that that has prevented some people complaining about the expense. In the past, the British and Irish armed forces have worked together on maritime disasters off the Irish coast - the Air India 747 brought down by a terrorist bomb springs to mind. I was in Ireland a few years ago when a tanker ran aground on the Irish coast and I overheard a number of Irish people saying what a great job they thought the RAF had done getting the crew off safely. You might not have heard that a few years earlier.

Sometimes it might seem strange for these islands to rely on volunteers for coastal safety in this day and age - but if the alternative is the militarisation and (inevitably) politicisation of the lifeboat service then maybe this is something we've somehow managed to get right - in both countries.