Eight searches at Cliffs of Moher

THE Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard service yesterday confirmed it conducted eight searches for people who went missing off the Cliffs of Moher last year.

Unit officer Mattie Shannon said six of the eight bodies had been recovered.

“The recovery of a body for a family bereaved is as important as finding someone alive,” he said. “It brings no closure for a family if a body is not recovered.

“During a search, you become part of a family and a family becomes part of you.”

The Samaritans have erected signage at the Cliffs providing a helpline for those considering taking their life while visitor centre director Katherine Webster said staff had all received training for suicide intervention.

“While the Cliffs of Moher is a very happy place for most people, it has an aspect that has a sadder side, she said, adding that “there is a little memorial garden in place at the southern end of the cliffs for those who have lost their lives off the Cliffs”.

A spokesman for the Clare Samaritans said: “I honestly don’t know if having the signs at the Cliffs are making any impact. When people are in that frame of mind, I don’t know if they would see the signs.”

He said the installation of a special phone at the Cliffs with a direct line to the Samaritans in Ennis could be con0sidered.

He said: “Every case where a person goes missing off the Cliffs of Moher is a personal tragedy.”

The spokesman also praised the Doolin rescue unit: “They work in very difficult conditions where their task is mainly one of recovery.”

The unit is one of the busiest in the country and Mr Shannon confirmed 45 call-outs last year.

Mr Shannon said five of the searches for bodies missing were protracted, with the unit failing to recover the body of a Spanish national and a Co Limerick woman who went missing off the Cliffs in early December.

Planning permission was granted in September 2010 for a €2 million coastguard station for the Doolin unit.

Mr Shannon said yesterday that it was his understanding that funding will now not be provided until 2014. He said: “It is good, at least, that we have got a date.”

The provision of the station will end the practice by one of the country’s busiest lifeguard units of having to haul their boat by tractor 1.5km to the coast in response to an emergency call out.