President Mary McAleese has officially named the first Tamar class RNLI lifeboat to be put on service in the country.
The RNLI volunteers with Kilmore Quay in Co Wexford are the first to receive the new €3 million lifeboat, which is the most modern and technically advanced lifeboat in the RNLI fleet.
Hundreds of people attended the ceremony this morning.
The new lifeboat, which is named Killarney, was funded by a legacy from Mary Weeks of Surrey in England who passed away five years ago.
Mrs Weeks met her husband while on a cruise off the west coast of Scotland on a boat named Killarney.
She had a strong RNLI connection through her maiden name Distin.
She was a relation of the Coxswain of Salcombe lifeboat Samuel Distin and of lifeboat crewmember Albert Distin; both men lost their lives in the Salcombe lifeboat disaster of 1916.
The new lifeboat is 16.3 metres long with a maximum speed of 25 knots compared to the 14.3 metres of the current Tyne class lifeboat stationed at Kilmore Quay, which has a maximum speed of 18 knots.
The lifeboat is self-righting and is fitted with an integrated electronics systems and information management system, which allows the lifeboat crew to monitor, operate and control many of the boats systems from shock mitigating seats.
