This article is from page 9 of the 2011-08-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THERE has been call for extra warning signs at a popular fishing spot near Kilkee where an off duty garda tragically fell to his death last week.
Adrian Martin (46) had been fishing from a 75-foot cliff at Dunlickey Point near Kilkee on Thursday with his six year-old son when the accident occurred. Other fishermen in the area raised the alarm when they saw the Monaghan native fall into the sea. A double tragedy was averted when another man out fishing intervened to ensure Mr Martin’s son didn’t fall over the edge.
Members of Kilkee Marine Rescue Service received a call to go to Dunlickey Point at 1.14pm. The rescue boat reached the scene at 1.32pm and a body wearing a red tracksuit top was seen floating in the water. Mr Martin’s body was recovered from the sea at 1.32pm and brought back to Kilkee Marine Rescue Centre where it was attended to by a local doctor, members of the ambulance service and the parish priest. Gardaí were present and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Manuel Di Lucia, a spokesman for Kilkee Marine Rescue Service, said, “A terrible tragedy especially for his young wife, his young little six yearold boy, who was on the cliff at the time and saw his father fall to his death. Only for other mackerel fishermen on the cliff, there is no knowing to what might have happened to that boy. They held him back.”
Mr Di Lucia has urged fishermen visiting Dunlickey Point to be careful. He said, “This is the first tragedy from that particular spot. My advice for people that are going there is to be very careful. It’s a very popular fishing area. At this point in time there is no point in saying people shouldn’t fish of it. They will. I would request that Clare County Council put up another sign to tell people that this cliff is a very dangerous area for fishing.”
As members were being de-briefed about the tragedy, the service received a call between 3.30pm and 4pm that snorklers had got into difficulty in Kilkee Bay.
One of the snorklers had returned to the shore but re-entered the water in order to save his friend. Mr Di Lucia explained, “He was in danger of actually drowning and his friend saved him and brought him onto the rocks in Kilkee. But in doing that he got badly cut to his knees and to his hand and a couple of marks on his head. The man that rescued the man actually got some injuries as well”.
The man received treatment for cuts and bruises, initially from members of the rescue service and later at Ennis General Hospital. The men are said to have made a full recovery.