A Wexford priest has warned public about the many hazards related to water he sees each summer as temperatures rise.
Fr Tom Dalton, volunteer at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) highlighted the need to be vigilant around water which can often appear safe but is actually very dangerous.
“The thing about our coastline is that the water is very unpredictable and also very cold. [People] really do need to be very careful, especially at this time of the year, it can be so lovely and sunny and people are feeling the warmth and it’s been such a long winter – they really want to enjoy the sea and it looks so attractive. We just need to be careful,” Fr Dalton told The Irish Catholic.
The comments come in the wake of two 15-year-old friends, Jack Kenneally and Shay Moloney, drowning while swimming in a lake in a quarry near Ennis last week.
Avoid panic
It is believed that one of the boys got into difficulty while swimming from one bank to another and his friend swam out to help him. A third teenager is believed to have tried to help them but had to return to the shore.
Fr Dalton added that in a water crisis situation it is important to fight the temptation to panic and that the safest option for swimmers is to bathe in a safe area where a lifeguard is present.