*Kilkee Pier.
AN APPEAL has been issued to create a designated swimming area adjacent to Kilkee Pier.
Officials in the local authority have been asked by Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) to “design and cost a designated swimming area adjacent to Kilkee Pier to address the recurring congestion and safety risks experienced each summer”.
She explained, “Kilkee Pier is a vital working facility, regularly accessed by leisure craft, fishing boats, the Irish Coast Guard, and Kilkee Sub Aqua Club. However, the pier has also become an increasingly popular bathing location during the summer months. The overlap of swimming activity with marine operations has led to congestion and potentially dangerous conditions for both swimmers and pier users”.
Pressure on the pier can be alleviated, safety improved for all users and Kilkee’s recreational offering enhanced for residents and visitors if Clare County Council identify and develop a safe, designated swimming zone adjacent to the pier, Cllr McInerney maintained.
Senior executive engineer in the West Clare Municipal District, Alan Kennelly explained that Kilkee Pier “has in effect” been designated a working pier with parking reserved for boats, leisure craft, boat trailers and associated vehicular traffic. “Following on from an incident some years ago where the emergency services could not access Kilkee pier to help a young woman from the water West Clare MD has introduced parking bye-laws which prohibit ordinary traffic parking on the pier”.
Kennelly stated, “I think a corollary of the bye-laws is that people should not swim in the immediate vicinity of the pier as boats need the area to safely access the pier and slips”.
He added, “Perhaps the issue might be approached from another angle. West Clare MD might identify a channel of water adjacent to the pier which would be for the sole use of boats and leisure craft accessing the pier, the location of this channel might be agreed with our elected representatives and local pier users. Once agreed West Clare MD could erect a number of signs in the pier area advising all users of the boating channel”.
Work of the local authority in designating Kilkee Pier as a working pier was praised by Cllr McInerney. “It is a very busy pier with the Coast Guard and sub-aqua club, people swim off there because it is handy”.
Use of the pier by families cannot be ignored, the Doonbeg shop owner flagged. “An Garda Síochána were called during the summer, a family had set up with deck chairs, kids playing and they refused to move, An Garda Síochána had to come and move them. It is so dangerous to have children playing there”. Kilkee was previously allocated Fáilte Ireland funding she recalled while pointing out that habits must be tweaked, “If they’ve always gone there, they will always go there”.
Her motion was seconded by Cllr Dinny Gould (IND).
