Kevin Leneghan said that the Newcastle town lifeboat station in County Down has still not recovered 15 years after 15 volunteers, who alleged that the coxswain was bullying staff, walked out.
Mr Leneghan, who served on the lifeboat, says that the station and the RNLI are no longer respected by the town’s 7,500-strong community and that compromises have had to be made to sufficiently man the base.
He made the comments after reading about how the 25-strong St Helier crew walked out in protest over the dismissal of coxswain Andy Hibbs in April.
Crew spokesman Mike Jackson has said that he expects Mr Hibbs to be interviewed by the RNLI within the coming weeks as part of an ongoing appeal process, which was launched nearly three weeks ago.
‘Some of the guys we have now are simply not experienced and not suitable for the job.’
