Not many of his Galway West constituents may know this, but the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Bobby Molloy, almost lost his life in the water as a child.
Mr Molloy, who holds the highest satisfaction rating among five TDs in the constituency, doesn't like to make too much of it. "I was drowned and was revived when I was seven years old," he told The Irish Times. "I took a special interest in competence in swimming and lifesaving from there on."
He qualified as an instructor with the Irish Red Cross's water safety section - the first body to be responsible for that area from 1945 - and when he became a minister in 1971 he was only waiting for an opportunity to establish it on a firmer footing. The Irish Water Safety Association was set up - a separate entity responsible to his own department. Mr Molloy says he never agreed with a decision taken by government more than 15 years ago to amalgamate water, fire and road safety into one body as the National Safety Council. He was glad to re-establish the identity just over a year ago. When the Irish Water Safety Association's new national headquarters opened on Long Walk, near Spanish Arch and on the banks of the Corrib, it was, in a sense, coming home.
Mr Molloy's involvement is not the only link with Galway. A former chairman was the late Mr Des Kenny, who, with his wife, Maureen, set up the successful bookshop and art gallery in the city. He had become involved after his son, Tom, narrowly escaped drowning.
A loyal following and the commitment of people such as the current chairman, Waterford garda Mr Frank Nolan, ensured there was no major trauma when the body was re-established. But there are challenges ahead, which the new office, run by chief executive Lieut Cdr John Leech, recognises.
The rapid growth of marine leisure has put extra pressure on, and stretched the goodwill of, people who have a strong volunteer ethic. Lifeguards recognised by the Irish Water Safety Association don't accept payment for what they do.
Moves have been made by the Government in the past three years to regulate safety in adventure and outdoor pursuits centres, but there is no such regulation in leisure centres. Many of these were built as extensions to hotels in the past decade. There is nothing to force a hotel or leisure centre to provide a qualified lifeguard - or any lifeguard - if it so chooses.
The water safety association estimates that there are 1,000 active volunteers, and some of these people received recognition at an awards ceremony in Galway recently attended by Mr Molloy and by the president of the International LifeSaving Federation, Dr Klaus Wilkens, who said Ireland has a "triple A" record when it comes to water safety effort.
Sometimes, the worst is prevented, and that is why five people who demonstrated acts of bravery were presented with Seiko "Just in Time" rescue awards in Galway by Mr Molloy. Certificates for 25 and 10 years' service respectively were also presented to volunteers. Mr Kieran McAllister from Ennis, Co Clare, received his award for rescuing a man from a river in Ennis in a strong current last December, while Mr Ollie Cahill saved two children in distress in the water at Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny, last July.
Cpl Tommy O'Neill pulled a man from the Shannon in Athlone, Co Westmeath, last October - and the previous year he rescued a six-year-old boy in a hotel swimming pool in Portugal. Ms Siobhan O'Connell saved the life of a man at Ballydwane cove, Co Waterford, last July; and Mr Seamus Monaghan fought strong currents and freezing temperatures in the Boyne river at Drogheda to rescue a man last January.
Capt Dave Courtney, the longest-serving captain with the Irish Coast Guard helicopter at Shannon, received an International Life Saving citation, as did Capt Geoff Livingstone, chief of operations with the Irish Coast Guard, Mr Frank Doyle, secretary-general of the Irish Fishermen's Organisation, and Mr Pat Costello, former chief executive of the Irish Water Safety Association.
At the ceremony, the chairman, Mr Frank Nolan, appealed to teachers to avail of resource packs sent to schools which are aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of bathing and swimming during summer months. One of a new series of posters and leaflets produced by the Galway-based body deals with hypothermia, and is in both English and Irish. It was written by an Irishman who is the world expert on the subject - Surgeon-Admiral Frank Golden, who now lives in England.
The Irish Water Safety Association's resource packs are available at (091) 564400, and it has a website at www.iws.ie