2020 is the year when people asked ‘Are you OK?’ and really meant it. It's not that we didn’t care before Covid, it's just that the question has taken on a whole new meaning. It's also the first question a Claddagh Watch volunteer asks when they meet someone out walking alone in the vicinity of Galway City’s many waterways. Ryan Tubridy chatted to Arthur and Deborah Carr, the founders of the organisation today and "hijacked" them with an unexpected award for their work.

Claddagh Watch was set up in 2019, after five people lost their lives to the river in Galway in one week in January. Arthur says the group was set up to try and prevent deaths by accident or by suicide in the sea, rivers and canals of Galway City and it’s inspired by the success of a similar organisation, Wexford Marine Watch. The 87 Claddagh Watch volunteers give up at least one night each per month, patrolling their waterside beat in pairs at the weekends, chatting to people they meet. Deborah says:

"The initial conversation is very simple, it's 'Are you alright there? Can I help you?' So, there's no big kind of plan as regards removing them from the water. What you're doing is asking them a simple, basic question of humanity; 'Are you OK?'."

Claddagh Watch volunteers come across a whole range of people, Deborah says, with a variety of needs and circumstances:

"It might be that they are just a little bit disorientated, maybe they've had a few drinks and you can move them on, maybe find their friends for them. Other people are a bit more vulnerable."

The idea is to talk first, Deborah says, and try and steer people who look like they might be in danger away from accidental falls near waterways. Claddagh Watch will also engage with professional services, like Gardai, ambulance or fire services if the situation warrants.

Arthur and Deborah are a married couple, and the evolution of Claddagh Watch is part of their personal story. Deborah says she experienced a breakdown in 2011. It happened after a trip to Australia to meet her birth mother: a meeting which Deborah says did not live up to her expectations. Deborah describes suffering mental and physical pain and loss of sleep. She says she withdrew from the world for a while:

"I cocooned myself for months on end because I was in such a raw state."

A breakthrough in Deborah's mental health came when Arthur set up Galway East Life Support with a local Garda to raise awareness around suicide prevention. This was in response to a number of suicides in the Ballinasloe area, which impacted everyone in the community, Deborah says. She admits her first reaction to her husband's involvement in the project was resentment:

"I was feeling so bad, that I couldn't really see why he was doing this. But little by little, he started getting me to write emails for him and do the odd letter for him, maybe design a poster. And as time went by, I found I was getting more and more invested in it."

Her contribution grew and grew, and along with a good therapist, Deborah found that volunteering helped her own recovery:

"I was getting better. It was the best therapy I could have had."

Deborah later learned that Arthur had made a promise to himself, that if he and Deborah could made it through their rough patch, he would try and help others get through theirs:

"He said to himself that if we got through it in one piece, this breakdown of mine; if we made it through to the other side, he wanted to help people never to be in the same position as we were again."

Springing pleasant surprises on people is something Ryan's been doing a lot lately, and Arthur and Deborah became his latest 'victims,'  as he announced live on the radio that the couple were the latest winners of 'The Christine Buckley Volunteer of the Year Award'. The stunned pair had no idea that they were up for the award, and barely had time to react before a large cheque was waved in front of them – an early Christmas present for the charity to sustain their valuable work.

If you’re personally affected by anything in today's interview, you can chat to someone in Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie

You can hear more about the work of Claddagh Watch and Deborah and Arthur's back story in the full interview with Ryan Tubridy here.

For supportive chats, tips on wellbeing and interviews with leading mental health experts, have a listen to RTÉ's podcast You OK?. You can find it here and on any podcast platform.

Ruth Kennedy