No lifeguards on thronged beaches

A serious safety issue has emerged following the revelation that there were no lifeguards on duty at the city’s beaches during the height of the recent heatwave.

It appears that during the months of June and September, there are lifeguards appointed at weekends only and not on weekdays – despite the fact that the beaches were thronged last week.

Galway City Council contribute €110,000 towards the provision of a lifeguard service on the city’s beaches but there is only full time cover during the months of July and August.

Last week the beach in Salthill, in particular, had hundreds of sunbathers, swimmers and surfers each day but there was no lifeguard on duty.

It has been described as a very worrying situation and Galway City Council and the Irish Water Safety Organisation have been asked to address the matter.

Cllr. Peter Keane said that he was astonished to discover that lifeguards were only on duty at weekends during the month of June when he believed that it should be weather dependent.

“We had the best weather of the year last week and the beaches in Salthill were very busy. It is not acceptable that there was no lifeguard cover when there were such crowds around.

 “I became particularly concerned when people contacted me, concerned that there were no lifeguards on duty at Salthill beaches on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week and I made enquiries in City Hall.

“I was astonished to be told that there is only lifeguard cover at weekends in June and September, with full-time cover in place for the months of July and August each year”, Cllr. Keane said.

He now said that the system of rostering lifeguards needed to be reviewed so that a service was in place when the fine weather warranted it.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.