This article is from page 11 of the 2006-09-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
FULL-TIME lifeguard cover, which had been available at the county’s 12 beaches over the summer, drew to a close at the weekend. A team of 24 lifeguards was on duty at the beaches throughout July and August, but this wound down on Sunday.
Clare County Council’s Water Safety Officer, Liam Griffin, said if the weather was exceptionally good in September, the county’s four biggest beaches – Lahinch, Spanish Point, Fanore and Kilkee – might be manned at weekends.
“We would not normally man them in September, but if the weather is very good, we will. We will review it from weekend to weekend,” he said.
He said that while the good weather in July ensured the lifeguards were very busy, overall the summer passed off without any major incident.
“We are happy that there were no serious incidents,” he said.
Lifeguards did offer assistance in a number of cases, including one involving a collision between two surfers in Lahinch in July, which resulted in one young man being treated at Ennis General Hospital for a foot injury.
Lifeguards also afforded attention to a UK tourist who suffered a heart attack in Lahinch, last Thursday week. The emergency services were called in, but the man, in his 60s, died later in hospital.
Mr Griffin said that while lifeguards would not be on full-time duty during the winter months, surfers were been encouraged to take car on the waters.
“There are notices displayed on surf beaches outlining details of surfing guidelines. There are areas where we ask surfers to go, and other areas for swimmers. We haven’t had a collision between a surfer and a swimmer for years,” he said. “We were happy with the summer. Everything went very smoothly and members of the public were very cooperative.”.
People also complied with a notice not to swim on Lough Derg, due to the presence of algal blooms, in July. This issue was addressed within a short period.