THERE are some bizarre images that may symbolise the silly season of 1996.
A few sunny Saturdays ago, a large group of sun bathers at the Vico Bathing Place in Dalkey was the centre of attention for two members of the Garda. Complaints, it appeared, had been made about what the sun bathers were, or were not, wearing.
With sweeping views of Killiney Bay, Dalkey island and helicopters landing in Bono's house, the Vico Bathing Place is, perhaps, the most stunning setting for swimming in Ireland. You would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful place to spend a summer's afternoon.
It isn't hard to believe that, when the two gardai arrived with their notepads and handcuffs, a scene of quiet contemplation - where the principal sound was the rustle of Saturday newspapers - quickly turned into complete consternation.
Nude Bathers
You see, just like the famed Forty Foot in Sandycove, the Vico Bathing Place is where some middle aged men - and sometimes women - prefer to swim and sun bathe in the nude. This state of affairs has existed for quite some time and despite the casual display of so many bodies in the interim, the arrival of the gardai a few weeks ago might have been a first for the ultra secluded swimming spot.
Those sun bathers, whose identities the gardai were most eager to establish, quickly got over the shock of having their names taken. Some even started to joke about a scene which many thought could only happen in Ireland. One asked tongue in cheek, it the gardai planned to make their evidence stand up in court.
The two were officiously unphased by the comments. While encouraging a number of middle aged men to re robe, they suggested the sun bathers should seek the sun in whatever way they wanted in the cove around the corner.
This suggestion, considering - the cove around the corner is a rough outcrop of steep rock, was met with some derision. It was also an odd suggestion for another, perhaps more important, reason.
Criminal Law?
According to the sixth edition of the Garda Guide, which quotes the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935, Section 18, "every person who shall commit, at or near and in sight of any place along which the public habitually pass as of right or by permission, any act in such a way as to offend modesty or cause scandal or injure the morals of the community shall be guilty of an offence. Penalty £500 and/or six months imprisonment".
The above mentioned cove around the corner is clearly visible from a number of large houses above the railway line, from the very popular Vico Road and even from passing trains. So if the nude bathers were causing an offence at the secluded Vico Bathing Place, which is invisible from the Vico Road and railway line, would they not cause a similar, or even greater, offence in the cove around the corner?
This story mirrors similar events reported recently in another national daily. According to the Star of June 19th, "gardai arrived at Dun Laoghaire's famous Forty Foot on Sunday" and "arrested some men for swimming in the nude".
Au Nature
Marion Finucane's Radio Liveline programme also reported on a similar controversy among locals in Kilkee, Co Clare, about whether topless bathing should be permitted in a secluded area of the town's beautiful beach.
If any continental Europeans are reading this, I'm sure many are at the point of imploding with laughter. What on earth would the French, Italians and Germans think of their police taking the names of middle aged men in places where people have peacefully swam and sun bathed au naturel for years?
They would say, perhaps, that the police have more important things to pursue with their time.