Honours for three Cork people who risked their lives for others

THREE people from Co Cork who risked their lives to aid others in danger have been recognised with bravery awards.

Shane Maloney, Beth Darrer, and Niamh McMahon were among 25 people from across the country who were presented with National Bravery Awards at a ceremony in Farmleigh House in Dublin yesterday.

The annual honours are awarded by Comhairle na Míre Gaile, the Deeds of Bravery Council which was founded in 1947 to enable State recognition of exceptional acts of bravery.

Mr Moloney was awarded a certificate of bravery in recognition of his swift actions to save his father’s life.

Shane and his father were moving a boat when its mast came into contact with an overhead power line.

His father was pulled towards the power line by the force of the power going through the mast.

Shane’s mother saw what was happening and shouted at Shane not to go near him, but without a thought, Shane pulled his father away from the boat.

Both Shane and his mother commenced CPR on his father, which ultimately saved his life.

Ms Darrer and Ms McMahon were each awarded a bronze medal and a certificate of bravery after they saved four young men who got into difficulty at Inchydoney beach.

The incident happened on May 27, 2020, when the four young people got into difficulty while playing in the water.

Ms Darrer heard shouts for help and she urged people along the beach to raise the alarm, grabbing a lifebuoy as she ran towards the water.

She waded out to one of the young men, who was being helped out of the water.

He explained that his three friends were still in trouble and were further out to sea.

At this time, Ms McMahon was paddling over to where Ms Darrer was, and they began swimming out to the other young men.

There was a strong riptide that the pair had to swim around to get to the young men, whom they managed to get safely back to the shore.

Sarah Courtney, Ronan Flanagan, Adrian O’Hara, and Aaron Hyland were also recognised for their role as crew members of the Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 in successfully evacuating a crew of seven from a fishing vessel 70 nautical miles west of Bantry Bay on March 27 this year.

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl presented the 25 national bravery awards yesterday.

“What these awards celebrate is the noblest impulse within a human being, to risk their lives in order to save another,” he said.

“Through their actions there are people alive today who would undoubtedly have died,” he said.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl continued: “The collective sense of good and indeed bravery displayed nationwide from many walks of life throughout the pandemic rightly allows us to be both proud of our communities and grateful for their existence."