Lifeguards sought for local swimming spots
Cavan County Council is being urged to develop a network of lifeguards to monitor popular swimming spots throughout the county at busy times such as on Bank Holiday weekends and during fine spells of weather.
The matter was raised for discussion at the recent monthly meeting of elected members on foot of a motion tabled by Fianna Fáil's Aiden Fitzpatrick.
It followed the publication of figures released by Water Safety Ireland (WSI) showing that 105 people drowned in 2019, and that a total of 1,200 drowned in the last 10 years, an average of 10 every month.
The WSI data, published to mark National Water Safety Awareness Week (June 15–21), further pointed to the fact that eight out of 10 drownings occurred within the victim’s own home county.
They also appealed to the public to help reduce summer drowning tragedies by swimming within a comfortable depth, and to supervise children closely.
Citing a study on the subject, Cllr Fitzpatrick noted that drowning is the second biggest cause of accidental death among children in Ireland, and drownings occur more commonly among adolescent males engaged in summer water-based activities and children aged between one and four years.
He said the study suggests the death toll could be dramatically reduced if lifeguards were appointed to monitor busy swimming haunts, adding that there were “many” fully trained lifeguards living locally who would be “only too delighted” to be given the opportunity to take up such roles.
“I'm asking the Council to develop a register of lifeguards,” said Cllr Fitzpatrick, who did acknowledge the tight financial constraints under which the local authority is operating, exacerbated even further due to the economic impact of Coronavirus.
“This year more than ever with COVID-19 travel restrictions and people's fear of traveling abroad, more and more people will be spending their holiday time by our many rivers and lakes. Although it's not possible to patrol all our rivers and lakes, if some of the most popular swimming areas in each of our municipal districts were supervised by lifeguards at peak time, mainly weekends or at times of hot weather, at least parents could advise or preferably accompany their childern to these amenity spots,” said Cllr Fitzpatrick.
Fine Gael's Madeleine Argue also contributed to the debate.
She noted that there were swimming lessons provided for two weeks at various lakes around the county.
Fianna Fáil's Shane P O'Reilly, as outgoing Cathaoirleach, stated that at his own local Mullagh Lake that there was dozens of families with children attending the site for swimming.
Sinn Fein's Paddy McDonald meanwhile highlighted that there were lifebuoys missing, and stated: “a stolen lifebuoy is a stolen life.”
Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly was also of a mind that “something needs to be looked at”, while there was also support for the motion from Fine Gael's TP O'Reilly.