The beach at Strandhill is getting a raw deal compared to other wellknown surfing locations around the State - that's the consensus among locals in the Co Sligo seaside village who refuse to accept a recent report that it is too dangerous for surfing.
The beach, where three teenagers were drowned last May, was deemed unsafe for swimming in a National Safety Council (NSC) report in 1994. A new NSC report this month said Strandhill should no longer be promoted as a surfing beach, despite the fact that it attracts surfers from all over the Republic and that there has never been a surfing fatality. Economically, the sport is hugely important to the area.
The report has also left Sligo County Council with a dilemma over a planned maritime centre, which is due to be built before the end of the year. Funded jointly by the county council, Bord Failte and the International Fund for Ireland, it was intended primarily as an advice and information centre for surfers, and is to be located in front of the beach.
Since the publication of the NSC report, the county council has removed a sign saying "Welcome to Strandhill surfing beach". This had been erected under a council sign warning the beach is unsafe for swimming. However, both the council and the surfing fraternity are determined the centre will go ahead, and are desperately trying to find a way around the problem. This week saw the first indication that a resolution may be found.
A meeting described as "positive" was held between representatives of the council, the local surfing club and the NSC.
It was agreed that both the local authority and the Irish Surfing Association (ISA) would draw up proposals outlining how safety could be improved. These will be forwarded within a week to the NSC, which will then "re-examine" the situation.
Mr Tom Hickey, who represented the ISA at this week's meeting, has surfed at Strandhill for the past 27 years, and also worked as a lifeguard on the beach for five years. After the 1994 NSC report, lifeguards were taken off the beach.
A PE teacher by profession, he says the NSC report will not stop him from taking his 10-year-old daughter surfing at Strandhill. "She'll go surfing when the conditions are suitable. I wouldn't allow her to go into the water on her own, or when the conditions are dangerous."
This, it appears, is the crux of the issue - what Tom Hickey knows to be safe for his daughter could appear dangerous to a non-surfer.
Surfers have described some of the comments in the NSC report as nonsensical, and say the person who wrote it had no knowledge of the sport.
In response to a line in the report stating "surfers who become detached from their boards now become swimmers", the ISA has pointed out that surfers wear ankle leashes which ensure that even when they fall off they still remain attached to the board. Wetsuits worn by surfers also act as a buoyancy aid.
THE ISA has also questioned why, as the governing body of surfing, it wasn't consulted over the report, and says that as far as it is concerned Strandhill has been designated as a surfing beach for the past 25 years.
It is listed in the Bord Failte Surfing in Ireland leaflet, and two international surfing events are scheduled for the beach this autumn.
Tom Hickey says it is acknowledged that surfing is an adventure sport, and as such there will always be an element of risk. However, the ISA safety code is always emphasised to young people, and the new maritime centre would improve safety by giving advice and information.
The council is also going to try to address some of the issues raised in the NSC report, such as the problem of access.
The slipway was blocked with stones at the time of the examination, and there was no way to enter or exit the water safely.
Sligo County secretary Mr Tim Caffrey says improvements will be made and he is hopeful the NSC will respond positively. However, in order to guarantee clear access the slipway will have to be raised and this would cost about £200,000, money the council does not have.
If the NSC does not respond positively, the Maritime Centre will still go ahead.
"We would have to look again at uses of it," says Mr Caffrey.
People in Strandhill feel their beach has been unfairly singled out.
"If Strandhill is going to be declared unsafe, there are countless other beaches, which are equally if not more dangerous," says Tom Hickey, who believes the issue should be looked at nationally. Bundoran, also a surfing beach, is cited by locals as an obvious example.
Mr Des Howett, a water safety supervisor with the NSC, says reports have been carried out on Strandhill only at the request of Sligo County Council. The recent survey was requested before last May's drowning tragedy.
If Sligo County Council came up with ways of making the beach safer, these would be considered.
"The report still stands, but we have to wait and see what is submitted," Mr Howett says. The Minister for State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, has requested a national survey of beaches, and Mr Howett said the NSC hoped to be in a position to make a submission to the Minister in April about carrying out this survey.
REGARDLESS of surveys or signs, it is felt in Strandhill that people will continue to get in the water, lured by huge, rolling, white waves.
Ironically, the local surfers, who have an expert knowledge of the beach, usually end up warning or rescuing bathers or swimmers who ignore the danger signs.
After last May's tragedy, the local community asked for a warden scheme to advise visitors of the dangers, but for legal reasons the county council has now ruled this out.
"Locals will be disappointed. On a sunny day people don't see signs and they are going to get in the water. The responsibility for advice and rescue is going to fall back again on the local people," says Mr Hickey.