Major art exhibition

By Louise Doyle - louise@inishtimes.com A major art exhibition and sale will take place in the Plaza, Main Street, Buncrana in aid of the Lough Swilly RNLI lifeboats next week. Seamus Mallon, former Northern deputy first minister, will officially open the event which runs from Friday, October 26 until Monday, October 29. The exhibition will feature over 200 paintings by 80 artists from home and abroad. The artists have kindly agreed to donate 25 per cent of the price of each painting to RNLI. The art sale has gone from strength to strength and was originally held in Greencastle but because of its continuing popularity it has this year been moved to Buncrana, the home base of Lough Swilly lifeboat station. The artists are from both home and abroad with Donegal, Derry, Dublin, London and many parts of Britain and Ireland represented. John McCarter, deputy launching authority, with RNLI said: “As a charity that relies on public donations to continue saving lives at sea, these events mean a great deal to the volunteers who crew the lifeboats and help to create an awareness of the work of the RNLI in Donegal and the North West Lough Swilly RNLI has been in operation for 20 years, saving countless lives. These lifeboats are crewed by volunteers who are trained to the highest standards by the charity and provided with the best equipment. These volunteers give their time freely and never know what they will face when they launch the lifeboat.”