Water safety officer appeals for more parental supervision

CLARE County Council’s water safety officer, Liam Griffin, has appealed to parents to keep a close eye on their children at beaches. He also said the number of beach-related incidents in resort towns like Kilkee has increased significantly this year.

In relation to unsupervised children going missing on the beach, Mr Griffin said several such instances occurred at Lahinch beach last Friday week. He said this is impacting negatively upon the lifeguards’ life-saving role in the water.
“Some parents are not looking after their children. On a busy day, like last Friday week, there was a whole load of missing children. The lifeguards are engaged in looking for those missing children and not watching the people in the water, which is their primary role. When people go to the beach, they should be responsible for their own care and that of the children in their care,” Mr Griffin warned.
On a wider note, he acknowledged there has been an increase in people receiving injuries at a number of resorts this summer.
“There’s a lot more incidents this year than there have been in previous years. Most of it is down to carelessness and human error. It has been a busy summer from that point of view. If you’re walking out along the pier in Kilkee, you have to realise that if it’s a windy day and a gust of breeze catches you, it can bring you out over it. It can be equally dangerous at low water. At high water, you know you won’t hit the bottom, whereas at low water you would,” he explained.
Mr Griffin also warned that people should not dive off piers or cliffs if they are not under supervision. “People shouldn’t be out there unless they have a reason to be there. I’m always giving out about people diving off the pier in Kilkee,” he said.
A number of incidents took place in Kilkee last Sunday, which resulted in four people being hospitalised.
A woman in her 60s was injured after she fell about 10ft from the pier at around 1.30pm. Members of Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the local coast guard unit attended to the woman until the Shannon-based rescue helicopter arrived.
Meanwhile, a member of a Limerick-based diving club was reported to be suffering from decompression sickness, also known as the bends. It is understood that the man resurfaced too quickly from a dive following equipment failure.
Two other divers, who were with him at the time, were also hospitalised as a precaution.
It was decided that all four casualties would be airlifted at the same time to University Hospital, Galway for treatment.