Authorities need to 'step up' on jet skis

Call for meeting over antisocial behaviour at lake amenity areas

The Cathaoirleach of Clare Co Council is calling for an urgent meeting between local authorities over a worsening problem of antisocial behaviour at Lough Derg amenity areas.

The recent tragic death of a Limerick teenager in a jet ski accident at Ballina-Killaloe has refocussed local attention on water safety. Killaloe councillor Tony O'Brien is hoping that it may renew interest in setting up a co-ordinated operation involving authorities with responsibility for enforcing byelaws on the Shannon.

This is something that he has been calling for for years. But Cllr O'Brien spoke of an “escalating” problem of antisocial behaviour on the waterway over the last 12 months, one that is perpetrated by a minority of individuals, and he said it must be confronted.

“We have issues,” Cllr O'Brien said. “We have antisocial behaviour all around the lake - whether it's Terryglass, Dromineer, Garrykennedy, Ballina-Killaloe, Mountshannon - and we need to tackle it. There's no point burying our heads in the sand.

“What I'm looking for is for all the relevant stakeholders - particularly Clare Co Council, Tipperary Co Council, the gardaí and Waterways Ireland - to step up the plate now and ensure that there is proper policing and enforcement for the people who come to visit our amenities and use them, both tourists and the locals. It is a very small minority of youths that are causing the trouble and abuse the byelaws, causing total disregard for everybody else.”

Cllr O'Brien is a founding member and chairman of Killaloe-Ballina Search & Recovery, which was tasked with searching for the body of the teenager following the recent jet ski accident. He spoke of long-running concerns over jet ski use in Ballina-Killaloe, and also in Dromineer recently.

Stressing that he is not opposed to jet skis, Cllr O'Brien said concerns would be allayed if their use was properly policed.

“I welcome jet skis. There's a cohort of people that want to ban them. But 90%, 95% of the people that use jet skis are legitimate, god-fearing, law-abiding and respectful of others. But there is a cohort coming into the place now who have no regard at all for people who are there, whether it be swimmers, fishermen, cruiser owners or tourists who rent the boat, or whatever.”

GARDA WATER UNIT

Cllr O'Brien pointed out that the Garda Water Unit has two operational teams based in Dublin and Athlone. With all the investment going into Blueways and Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, surely the Athlone unit should be resourced to spend a few days of each month on Lough Derg, he reasoned.

“I want to see a consistent and regular policing of the byelaws on the water and off the water, and when people break them, there will be repercussions,” Cllr O'Brien said. “Because people see that there is no policing; there is no enforcement. They feel they can come out to these areas in north Tipperary and east Clare, and there's no fear of them being apprehended or curtailed, and they run amok.”

As well as confiscations of offending jet skis and powerboats, Cllr O'Brien said he wants to see gardaí setting up checkpoints at weekends and checking for tax, insurance and licences for some of the vehicles and trailers being brought to the lake.

The Clare Cathaoirleach stressed that he is not being critical of any agencies but wants them to work collectively to “eradicate this before it gets any worse”.

He agreed that the overlapping of responsibility for the Shannon poses a problem. “Where you get that, there's a void, there's a vacuum.”

Looking further ahead, Cllr O'Brien said he would like to see the introduction of permits or licences for powerboats and jet skis; as things stand, one needs only to register their craft with Waterways Ireland if it has an engine size of more than 15hp.

“But the immediate thing,” Cllr O'Brien said, “is that we get dialogue going between the stakeholders, and that it's not just dialogue - that we come up with a plan of action that is going to act as a deterrent to any thugs and people who visit with antisocial behaviour on their minds, whether it be on the lake or on the shore.

“They are tiny minority, but they are totally disrupting the enjoyment of the amenities for the huge majority.”