Review warns of Skellig ‘scramble’

SCALING the steps to the Skellig Michael monastery is like “a mountaineering activity”, known as “scrambling”, in which the hands are used to balance, a safety review has warned.

There are several locations along the entire climb to the monastery which present a high risk of a fall, the report has found. There have been three deaths and five cases of injuries and “the likelihood is that a person will be killed as a result of a fall on the Skellig Michael between one in five and once in 50 years”, it says.

However the review says no fencing should be erected along the route, a contentious issue from the point of view of conservation, but makes strong recommendations on warning recreational visitors.

The lack of awareness among visitors of what exactly was involved and lack of preparedness in visiting the heritage site, 12km off south Kerry, “is itself another serious hazard”, according to the safety review, which was carried out after the deaths of two visitors last year.

The steep slope to the sixth century hermitage, which is partly lined with steps, is more acute than much higher mountains, the terrain more rugged and the surface less forgiving.

A simple slip or stumble which would lead to bruising or at worst a single fracture elsewhere can have devastating consequences on the Skellig resulting in death or serious injury, it says.

One of the deaths last year occurred when there was no official OPW presence on the island and the site had not yet officially opened, the report notes.

The safety review found the OPW management of the complex wilderness and monastic site was admirable, despite the recent unfortunate fatalities.

The report’s authors have made 31 recommendations. Some of these have been carried out, the OPW, managers of the site, said yesterday.

The review recommends there be a single departure point for the Skellig boats so that there is a central point of departure to warn visitors before the sea journey – a measure which is likely to prove problematic.

The permit system with the boatmen which controlled visitor numbers was not operating fully. It also says people who were unprepared for the voyage out and or the climb ran the risk of exacerbating any inherent weakness.

“This may trigger a more serious event involving serious injury or death,” the report states.

The review by Byrne O Cléirigh Engineering Consultants and its recommendations have been accepted by the minister with responsibility for the OPW, Dr Martin Mansergh, a spokesman said.

A statement yesterday said that while the report found the OPW’s management of the site was “admirable and OPW personnel impressive, the health and safety of all visitors remains an absolute priority for the OPW”.

Joseph Gaughan, 77, of 155 McLean Street, Wilbar, Pennsylvania, died from serious head injuries after he fell about 30 feet while descending the lower reaches of the stone steps on May 3, 2009. At the same spot, Christine Spooner, 57, a social worker from Rochester, New York, died in a fall while ascending the steps on September 20.

Meanwhile, the review also touches on “issues of contention” between the Skellig boatmen and the OPW and says this is impacting on the control of passenger numbers visiting the site.

“The OPW should commit itself to seeking a resolution of the problem concerning the multiplicity of departure points to the site, with all the stake holders involved, so that a single centre for the safe induction of recreational users can be established on the mainland”.

The world heritage site is perched on a rock which towers 714ft metres above sea level, along roughly laid steps, and paths hewn from bedrock more than 1,000 years ago.

About 10,000 people visit the Skellig annually and in the last 40 years more than 400,000 people have visited the island. It is described on the world heritage list as “a unique example which illustrates, as no other site can, the extremes of Christian monasticism”.