Water safety - Mounting death toll

While hundreds of thousands are enjoying the blessings of sunny days and beach weather, the danger associated with swimming, water sports and diving have become all too apparent.

Two divers died yesterday after getting into difficulty off the Cork coast. The two Englishmen were diving on a wreck off Castlehaven, near Glandore, when the alarm was raised at 9.40am. One diver, aged 66, was pulled unconscious from the water, and airlifted to Cork University Hospital where he later died. The second man’s body was found close to the wreck.

On Monday, two children lost their lives in separate drowning tragedies in Dublin and Cavan in the space of just a few hours.

Urging caution, Irish Water Safety point out that an average of 140 people drown in Ireland every year.

That’s 140 too many.