The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a registered charity that saves lives at sea. It provides a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service to 100 nautical miles out from the coast of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The RNLI, which provides nine out of ten sea rescue launches, continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income.

The RNLI in Ireland has 43 lifeboat stations operating 55 lifeboats in order to provide a ring of safety around the Irish coastline. This fleet enables the lifeboat service to reach at least 90% of all casualties that are within 10 nautical miles of lifeboat stations within 30 minutes of launch, in all weathers.