Name: Karl O' Grady
Lives: County Tipperary ( just around the corner from Jimmy Barry)
Occupation: Life guard and swimming instructor
Interests: Rock climbing, mountaineering, cycling, swimming, Irish language.
In the team since: September 2005 - I joined at 17 years of age but had to wait until I was 18 to officially become part of the team and take part in training!
Current position in the team: Committee Member / Tracker
Lowlights: Going on holidays and coming home to find out that I've missed a callout. And not being old enough to drive any Team Vehicles yet!
Highlights: Hearing my pager going off for the first time and that buzz you get never dies. Helping someone safely down off the mountain and seeing the look of relief on their face. Flying in a helicopter for the first time. Navigating for a search dog and handler on callouts and seeing them at work. Friday night training up the Galtys that often went on all hours into the night.
Name: Irene Codd
Lives: Clonmel
Occupation: Teacher
Interests: Mountain Rescue (suprise, suprise), basketball, outdoor adventure stuff (hillwalking, climbing ...)
In the team since: 2004
Current position in the team: Chairperson
Previous positions held: Training officer and acting Secretary
Lowlights:Waking up at 4am to the sound of the pager (Once 4.05 comes i'm fine again!!)
Highlights: Croagh Patrick (I love to wake up on the mountain with Bono licking my face). Rolling down the hill with Paddy Looney in the Comeragh's. Telling Jimmy Barry what to do (my new favourite thing to do). Oh I could go on ... Doing MR stuff in the sunshine (its so rare!).
Legal Notice: The owners of this site wish to point out that the above named Bono refers to the well known SARDA search dog and not the lead singer of an up and coming Dublin rock band.
Name: Jimmy Barry
Lives: County Tipperary. Just ten minutes from the Galtees.
Occupation: Logistics Manager
Interests: History, poetry, canoeing, photography.
In the team since: 2000. In 1999 I met Pat and Roy when they gave a presentation about SEMRA in Aherlow. Pat invited me to the open night in Clonmel and asked me to bring along a few people who might be interested. Where did the time go?
Current position in the team: Press/Public Relations Officer
Previous positions held: Deputy Team Leader
Lowlights: Knots!
Highlights: Team mates. Friends in other MR teams all over Ireland, all over the world. Watching the sun rise from the top of Croagh Patrick. Sitting on Galtybeg at four in the morning drinking tea. Being able to say "it's ok, you're safe now". The support I get from my family and friends.
The sun came out on Saturday June 20th, for SEMRA's annual Waterford street collection, a pleasant change from last year when it bucketed down for the whole day. As so often before, the people of Waterford were very generous indeed to their local, voluntary, Mountain Rescue team. SEMRA could not exist without the funds raised at our flag days, and the kind words of support received are very much appreciated. SEMRA is grateful to An Garda Siochana, Waterford City Council, and its friends in the local media who helped to get the word out, also we acknowledge our colleagues in the Search And Rescue Dogs Association, who took time out of a busy training weekend to come and help on the day.