This article is from page 20 of the 2008-09-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
has learned that Cliffs of Moher safety rangers have been questioned by members of the public, who later return when the pa- trol is off duty to commit suicide.
SU ioor-NKeRe HURON MD Or- Tonnes tte ployed at the Cliffs of Moher, with three on duty at any one time. There is aranger presence at the cliffs until 9pm each day.
“We have stopped people and they have come back again later. We would be here until 9pm each evening but people would come back
after that. People might come up and ask us what time we are finishing up for the evening and you don’t know are they just curious or are they planning to come back when we are not around,” said Cliffs ranger Tom Die) aa
“A million people come to the cliffs each year. Eventhough there are lots of signs, a lot of people will move away from the designated walking area.
“We can’t patrol all along the cliffs, and we can’t force someone not to go into certain areas. All we can do is talk to them and usually people are very good about it.”
Mr Doherty, who is also a member of the Doolin Coast Guard, believes that it may not be possible to patrol
the entire cliffs area 24 hours a day.
“I spoke to a girl one day and she just said in passing what a lovely place the cliffs would be to die. She said there was something romantic about it. People would often say that there is a draw to it. I don’t know myself but it there does seem to be something that brings people here.”
“To patrol from all the way from Liscannor to Doolin would take a massive amount of manpower. I mean we would sometimes get a call at 2 in the morning from someone at the cliffs who wanted to say good- bye or leave a message for his fam- UMA
“T don’t know would it work, or even if it would be possible to patrol the whole thing.”