A bank Holiday water safety warning has been issued as statistics reveal a steady rise in accidents on water.
The Irish Coastguard responded to 1,020 incidents during the first half of the year, compared to 980 for the same period last year, despite a Government-sponsored safety awareness campaign involving Coastguard units and lifeboat volunteers.
Last year almost 200 people drowned, according to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, at a time when more and more people turn to water-based leisure activities.
The number of incidents involving leisure craft has more than doubled since 1994, to around 350 incidents a year now.
The Minister, Mr Fahey, yesterday said basic safety precautions could make a crucial difference between life and death, or serious injury. These precautions include:
never swimming alone;
taking extreme care on coastal and clifftop walks;
wearing a lifejacket on boats;
leaving word of a planned trip with someone ashore;
only going out with an experienced person, and checking weather forecasts.
"Taking precautions should be second nature, and children should be shown this by example," Mr Fahey said. "After all, we do not let our children ride a bicycle without a helmet, or travel in a car without a seat-belt or child seat. Water-based activity should be no different."
The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland has appealed to owners of speedboats and cruisers to slow down, following reports of vessels travelling at up to 40 knots close to the shore and to other boats. The wash caused at such speeds is very dangerous to swimmers, other people in small boats and to the motorboats themselves, the IWAI said.
Inland waterway regulations set a five knot per hour speed limit within 200 metres of a bridge or jetty, within 100 metres of a lock, in a canal or harbour or when passing within 100 metres of a moored vessel. Regulations are being ignored, and Waterways Ireland, the new North-South body, does not have enough staff to enforce them, Mr Colin Becker, IWAI president, said.
Meanwhile, Met Eireann has announced extended forecast services off the coast, which will benefit fishing and offshore activities. Two- to five-day sea planners are now available for more offshore locations on its premium rate weather service, Weatherdial Fax.
The planners provide a graphical representation of wind, sea and swell conditions at six-hourly intervals, for five days ahead.
