Lifeguard calls for funding to address ‘urgent safety issues’ and lack of amenities for northside
A petition has been launched by locals around Clontarf, Dollymount strand and the Bull Wall in a bid to prompt action on the “urgent safety issues and amenity improvements needed for Dublin sea swimmers”.
Aaron Foley, who is a lifeguard in the area, argues that the southside gets significantly more funding for swimmer amenities and infrastructure – much to the despair of those on the northside.
“Our health and well-being are important – we’re not getting the lovely facilities that are on the southside of the city and people are genuinely upset with this,” he told the Irish Independent.
“If you go around the south of the city, you’ll see that the local authority taxes are being used to basically rebuild the Forty Foot, Seapoint has been completely refurbished, and Dún Laoghaire has been done up. These facilities are great amenities for the city, but nothing has happened in north Dublin.
“We haven’t even got a public toilet on the beach. There’s no toilet on the full length of the Bull Wall.
On the other side of the city they’re encouraging swimming and providing beautiful facilities
“All the safety ladders have rusted off the walls. They’re very important because every year we get at least two people stuck along that stretch of wall.
“If there’s a current there and they’re new to the area, they start to swim with the current, they get swept along the wall and there’s nowhere to get out.
“Last year, they spent a lot of money on putting signposts along Bull Island saying it’s not a designated swimming area. But on the other side of the city they’re encouraging swimming and providing beautiful facilities.
“We’re getting nothing. All we get is our bins changed and a few potholes filled in.”
Lifeguard Aaron Foley highlighted safety issues for sea swimmers on Dublin’s northside
Mr Foley highlighted safety issues for those who choose to engage in leisure activities on the northside.
“People have a misconception of lifeguards, that they’re just for people drowning. Dublin City Council treats it as if we’re down here on holidays.
“They’ve become so lax over the last couple of years that they’ve let the serious safety issues creep in,” he added.
“On a hot weekend, we’re dealing with 7,000 to 10,000 people. If we get a hot month, we’d get a crowd as big as Croke Park. For a large portion of this year, we had only one lifeguard on the entire Bull Island.
We didn’t get a defibrillator until July 27 – about eight weeks late
“That’s a shocking number – having only one person dealing with all the people on a hot day. There could be 300 people in the water and all the people walking up and down.
“We’ve had five in-water rescues this year on Dollymount, including Bull Island. We’ve also dealt with two heart attacks. There are safety issues.
“Dublin City Council didn’t issue us with defibrillators for the first four weeks on Bull Wall and the station in the middle of the beach. We didn’t get a defibrillator until July 27 – about eight weeks late.
“An ambulance can’t come out to the beach. They can’t risk getting stranded on the sandy beach, so someone who needs an ambulance needs to be transported by one of our quads.
“They’re as important as an ambulance because we have to transport people who have had heart attacks, sprained ankles, broken bones, all these things.
“But a quad bike was left with a flat tyre for two weeks and we had a broken winch on the boat – we haven’t been able to launch it at all this year.”
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.
