*Photograph: Limestone Pics
A NEAR-FATALITY in Lahinch is to result in safety improvements at the Miltown Malbay Rd car park.
In the middle of June, an American tourist fell from a 23ft cliff in Lahinch prompting an emergency response which included members of the Doolin Coastguard unit assisted by Shannon-based Rescue 115 helicopter, Gardaí, units from Ennistymon attached to the Clare and Rescue Service along with paramedics from the National Ambulance Service.
Raising the matter before the West Clare Municipal District, Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) called on the local authority “to erect fencing and extra-large signage on the cliffs side of the Miltown Road car park in the interest of health and safety”.
Senior executive engineer in the West Clare MD, Tony Neville stated, “As agreed at our meeting on site, Clare County Council will replace all the rails removed from the existing concrete fencing. We will develop and erect appropriate signage with a view to highlighting the potential danger and to discourage climbing of the boundary fence”.
“We had a near fatality in Lahinch,” Cllr Slattery said when recalling the accident. “A young person fell over the cliffs at the Miltown Malbay Road car park and it a major rescue operation was mounted”. He added, “He was either fortunate or unfortunate that tide was gone out and the rescue went on for forty five minutes, he broke two legs and a pelvis, it was an American young fella”.
Speaking at the meeting, the Cathaoirleach of the West Clare MD advised his colleagues that he met the senior engineer at the site. “It cannot be fenced off completely because of the area, I was looking for extra signage and fencing, I looked for this ten years ago,” he said. “The amount of young people socialising and involved in anti-social behavior here is gone crazy, what a woman told me she was picking up there the morning after is outrageous but I won’t get into that”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) recalled his own adventures to the hill, “I was a teenager too that did what they are doing on the hill”. He added, “Your heart sinks when you see people going to the cliffs every evening, the cliffs are undermined, there is a grass margin with nothing underneath it, we can’t legislate for stupid but you have to do everything possible, if a tragedy occurs, everything will have been done”.
Talty cautioned that “it is not a suitable area for recreation”.
