THE RETIRED MEMBERS ASSOCIATION DIARY

theatres, while the ship headed to Arrecife, Lanzarote.

Arriving at Arrecife on the Saturday morning, guests disembarked to visit the capital city of Lanzarote, and that evening, the ship headed for the next port of call, Gibraltar.

Sunday was spent at sea, so late breakfasts were enjoyed, religious services were attended, and used the gyms, swam and went for walks.

Monday morning saw the Norwegian Sun tying up at Gibraltar. ere were a variety of tours available, including a bus tour to the Rock of Gibraltar, e Great Siege Tunnels, Ocean Village and Harding’s Battery, e Convent, King’s Bastion and of course the usual walkabout viewing the buildings, shops and restaurants.

Back on the ship, we enjoyed relaxing, dinner and entertainment, while we headed towards the nal port of call, Malaga, where we arrived on Tuesday, 29 November, and headed to the airport to look back on a great holiday that was de nitely one to remember.

Christmas Party

On Friday, 9 December, DFBRMA celebrated our annual Christmas Party in Ayr eld Community Club. Members living on the Southside were catered for being delivered door to door in subsidised taxis. We had a delicious menu of Christmas fare, and live music, with people singing and dancing until late. It was a night to remember, so roll on Christmas 2023.

Westport

From 16 to 20 January, a group from the DFBRMA visited Westport, Co Mayo. Castlecourt Hotel is a four-star familyowned luxury hotel located on the doorstep of the Wild Atlantic Way. e food and bedrooms were top class, and we had music every night. ere are a variety of interesting pubs in Westport, with Matt Molloy’s well-known as a traditional music venue.

Tuesday was spent relaxing, going for walks, using the hotel spa and swimming pool, doing a bit of shopping, and having a delicious dinner, before we retired to the bar for a musical evening.

On the Wednesday, we had a hilarious Bingo session, with each table accommodating ten members of our group, and for two hours we laughed our way through €100 with one table winning all the prize money and the other unfortunate table getting nothing. A very disgruntled Bob Hedderman said somebody must have been cheating! Many thanks Bob for the craic.

On the ursday, we headed o on a luxury coach to tour a section of the Wild Atlantic Way. We encountered beautiful scenery, marvelling at the snow-capped mountains along the route. Following a short drive, we arrived at Murrisk at the foot of Croagh Patrick, known as a site of pilgrimage for more than 5,000 years. From this holy mountain, St Patrick was said to have banished the snakes from Ireland, but to this day I’m not too sure if he cleared them all!

We visited the National Famine Monument in Murrisk, comprising a bronze co n ship with bronze skeletons and bones making up the rigging. It was sculpted by John Behan and is Ireland’s largest bronze sculpture, and has to be seen. We headed to Leenane, nestling under the Maamtrasna and Maamturk mountains, a picturesque village at the head of Killary Harbour, which was the location for the movie e Field.

A er lunch, we headed for Cong, another quaint village situated on the borders of Galway and Mayo, the setting for the lm e Quiet Man, and it was interesting to see the actual pubs and cottages used in the lm.

In all, it was an interesting tour which took most of the day to complete, so ursday was spent relaxing again, with another great dinner and musical session, and on the Friday we returned home happy.

Stardust Memorial Service

e families of the victims of the Stardust Fire held a Memorial Service for their loved ones on February 11. e service took place close to the original site of the re and is identi ed by a striking eight metre high permanent presentation depicting a beautiful picture and names of each of the 48 victims. ere was also a separate plaque on the wall of the building recognising journalist and news presenter Charlie Bird for his dedication and help to the Stardust Committee. Charlie and his wife spoke about the endless hard work Antoinette Keegan and the Committee did from 1981 to the present day to get justice for their families.

DFBRMA members were invited by the Stardust Committee, while Dublin Fire Brigade’s presence was in the form of uniformed personnel and re appliances. e DFB Pipe Band gave a beautiful lament while a wreath was laid by our member Paul Hand, historian and curator of the DFB Museum, and Paul Shannon, retired re ghter and a member of the DFB Pipe Band. In all it was a moving experience which, I am sure helped to bring some small closure to the still grieving families of these children.

Retirement Party

DFB Sports & Social Club held their retirement function at the Castleknock Hotel on 17 February. DFB Sports & Social Club Hon. Sec. Dan Fynes hosted the function and did a most professional job. Chief Fire O cer Denis Keeley presented the retired re ghters with their statuettes, introducing them to a life of no more turnouts and peaceful nights.

We were there to recruit new members to eventually replace our own ageing members, and were kindly given the opportunity by the DFB Sports & Social Club to set up a stand to talk to the retirees. is we did in a very opportune location, between the function room and the gents, and it worked! We signed up 11 of the best people that I’m sure will make a di erence to our organisation in the future.

Agm

On 28 February we held our DFBRMA AGM at the Teacher’s Club. ViceChairperson Willie O’Leary addressed the members present, remembering the DFBRMA members and non-members who had passed away during the year.

Treasurer Aidan Carroll read the nancial report for the year, before the following members were elected to the Committee:

Chairperson: Willie O’Leary

Vice Chairperson: Bob Hedderman

Secretary: Tony McCann

Assistant Secretary: John O’Neill

Treasurer: Aidan Carroll

Assistant Treasurer: Tommy Ellis

Chairperson Willie O’Leary thanked the members and welcomed the new committee and new members, hoping 2023 would be as good as the previous years.

Titanic Experience

At present, the Committee are organising a trip in early May to the Titanic Experience Centre in Belfast.

e above account shows what the DFB Retired Members Association endeavours to accomplish during the year, and welcomes every retired re ghter to come and join us.

Members are not committed to attending monthly meetings regularly, but are very welcome to sit in at the Teacher’s Club on the last Tuesday of every month and have a bit of craic and a couple of pints.