Sound of silence better than jet skis

MAY the Lord protect us from jet skis, and from loudmouths with mobile phones in planes.

Close to swimmers or surfers, jet skis are intimidating and dangerous. Wherever they are used within earshot of the shore, the natural peace is shattered. Few sounds are more irritating and disruptive. For the preservation of the public right to peace, John Gormley, with the new environmental broom, should legislate for their control.

Some years ago I described the effect of a jet ski launched into a quiet west Cork bay on a summer Sunday afternoon. It was a ‘dead’ sort of day, the sea calm, the air still. A family walked their dog along the strand, a couple played hurling, some children swam in the sea. Peace lay settled upon the world about us. Then, a 4X4 arrived, and its owners unloaded and launched a jet ski. Within minutes it was a changed world.