Lifeguards carried out 473 water rescues last year 

Lifeguards administered first aid on more than 6,000 occasions and reunited 500 children found wandering alone on beaches with their families,

Lifeguards carried out 473 rescues last year, and also administered first aid on more than 6,000 occasions and reunited 500 children found wandering alone on beaches with their families.

The figures are contained in the latest annual report from Water Safety Ireland, which shows the highest number of rescues were in Clare and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown. It also shows there were 80 drownings last year, 50 of which were accidental.

There was a total of 228 rescues without craft, with 46 in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown, and 245 craft rescues, 49 of which were in Co Clare.

Clare also had the highest level of first aid administered — 1,898 in 2021, ahead of Kerry, which had 1,175. The highest number of lost children in any county was 174, in Co Kerry.

The report, which has been laid before the Oireachtas, says 36,021 incidents were prevented last year due to lifeguard intervention. Of those, 8,913 were in Sligo and 5,746 in Cork.

Water Safety Ireland chair Clare McGrath said: "The last two years have been especially demanding due to the challenges of Covid-19, which affected our teaching, training of lifeguards, summer weeks, lifesaving sport and all our other activities.

"The number of lives saved and aquatic accidents avoided as a result of the work carried out by all of our active volunteers can never be fully enumerated, although one figure that brings home the importance of this work is the number of rescues performed by lifeguards each year, a figure which reached 473 during 2021. 

These same lifeguards, trained and assessed by Water Safety Ireland, administered first aid on over 6,000 occasions and reunited with their loved ones more than 500 children found wandering alone by the water’s edge.

"I would like to recognise the education committee and strategic marketing committee for targeting at-risk groups with initiatives to highlight best practice so that drownings are reduced. 

"These initiatives and public awareness campaigns endeavour to keep water safety in the public consciousness all year round."

The report also highlights the efforts of those who have made lifesaving interventions in recent years, including that of Gary Heelan, who on November 6 last year was walking on the banks of the Blackwater near Mallow when he noticed a young woman in the river on the opposite side of the bank, who was holding on to a tree and in difficulty. 

"He immediately ran across the bridge, down the opposite bank of the river and contacted the emergency services, then made his way to the casualty and tried to assist her from the bank. 

"Gary then entered the water and against a strong flow managed to help the woman to safety.

This article has been edited to correct an earlier error