This article is from page 15 of the 2011-09-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
TWO tragedies marred the summer on the county’s waters.
After a busy summer on the county’s beaches, the 30 lifeguards completed their final tasks of 2010 at the weekend.
The lifeguards at the county’s beaches finished their duties for this year at the end of August, but those at the busiest beaches – Lahinch, Kilkee, Spanish Point and Fanore worked until Sunday evening.
There were two tragedies on the waters in Clare – the death of a Limerick woman while out swimming near Liscannor in June and the death of a man while out fishing in Kilkee two weeks ago – during the summer.
A number of rescues took place during the summer months, the most serious of which were in Spanish Point after two people got into difficulty in separate swimming incidents.
The county’s Water Safety Officer Liam Griffin reflected on the summer, saying, “The weather wasn’t as good as we would like to see. There were a number of rescues. There were a couple at Spanish Point that were quite serious.”
A number of other rescues also took place in Lahinch and Fanore. Lifeguards also had to deal with several missing children in several of the seaside resorts in Clare.
“We had 30 lifeguards on duty covering 12 different beaches; four in Lahinch, four in Kilkee, three in Spanish Point, three in Fanore and two at the others,” he said.
The other beaches covered were Bishop’s Quarter in Ballyvaughan; Doolin; White Strand, Miltown Malbay; Seafield, Quilty; Whitestrand, Doonbeg; Cappagh, Kilrush; Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon.
Mr Griffin stressed the importance of swimming in public areas over the coming months when the lifeguards are off duty.
“In many cases, people are not aware of the dangers of the water. If people are in strange places, they should ask locals. People who lose their lives in the West Clare area are not locals. Locals know and appreciate the dangers and will help,” said Mr Griffin.
“The advice is to go to areas regularly frequented by other users and don’t go swimming in isolated areas. If you are going boating, life jackets are vital. They are not expensive to buy,” he said.