Surfer’s rage at council’s Lahinch bylaw

Cian Kearns, a surf instructor at Ben’s Surf Clinic in Lahinch, has made an impassioned plea against Clare County Council’s new bylaw, which forces surf schools to operate their business from an area in the lower car park at the far end of Lahinch beach. The bylaw officially came into force on July 1.

“Over 20 people work giving lessons in Lahinch, some for the summer and others all year long. In a small rural area like Lahinch, these jobs are very important in providing local employment. However, Clare County Council passed new bylaws directly impacting on and damaging this industry,” Mr Kearns said.

 

“As of last Monday, all surf schools must operate their business from a small area in the lower car park at the far end of the beach. The schools used to operate from various vans spread out across the promenade. The new location is out of sight from any visiting tourists and any advertising of the existence of these schools is prohibited by the new bylaws. If you do not know they are there, there is no way to find out. The area supplied is two regular car park spaces.

“This is not sufficient for two vans, hanging wetsuits and surfboards. However, any slight encroachment outside the area is met by fines from the parking warden. There is just physically not enough space for five surf schools to operate side by side in 10 small spaces,” the surf instructor claimed.

However, in a statement issued to The Clare Champion, Clare County Council said it had undertaken an extensive consultation process.

“Clare County Council undertook a month-long public consultation process, which concluded in late April. Submissions were invited from members of the public and interested parties, including the surf school operators, who were personally handed copies of the draft bylaws and invited to make submissions,” the statement said.

“Only one surf school operator of the five in Lahinch made a submission. That operator is not the one who has contacted The Clare Champion. Councillors adopted the bylaws at the May monthly meeting and it came into effect on July 1,” the statement added.

“There are 10 parking bays for five operators and there are bilingual signs at three locations along the promenade, pointing towards the new location of the surf schools,” the council statement said.
Bizarrely, Mr Kearns noted surf school employees or their students couldn’t view the sea from their new location. “The location is out of sight of the sea. Whereas before all schools operated within viewing distance of the sea, now none do. This has a direct bearing on the safety of the beach, as all surf instructors are qualified lifeguards and regularly make rescues, particularly at times when the lifeguards are off duty. The lifeguard season runs July and August and only between 11am and 7pm,” he said.

Clare County Council responded, “As for safety being undermined because they act as lifeguards sometimes, they do all of their activities on the beach. They only get dressed and undressed in the parking bays.”

Mr Kearns insists however, that surf school business has already decreased. “As the schools are hidden at the far end of the prom, passing trade has already plummeted. While bookings make up many of the lessons, there is also a large portion of both rental and school business, which comes from passers-by. Now people arrive and leave Lahinch without even realising they could have tried out surfing themselves,” Mr Kearns fumed.

He claimed Clare County Council’s decision to implement the bylaw could cost jobs. “The livelihood of a number of surf instructors, myself included, is directly threatened by Clare County Council’s actions.

“It also coincides with other anti-surfer measures taken earlier this spring, such as double-yellow lines on tiny, dead-end roads where surfers once parked to access waves and, in one case, the physical building of two, 150m mounds of earth to narrow a road where surfers used to park and access the famous wave at the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher, Aileens, he alleged.