Irish Examiner view: No room for loutish actions

Respect on the beaches

There was a garda presence at Burrow Beach in Dublin following a brawl over the bank holiday weekend. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The prolonged spell of good weather recently has led to the traditional calls for water safety awareness. 

The coasts and waterways are thronged with people availing of the heat and sunshine, so swimmers of all ages are being urged to take care, while parents of small children in particular are mindful of the potential risks involved in a trip to the beach.

Not all of those risks involve rip tides and sunburn. Perhaps there should be more of a focus on next-to-the-water safety awareness, given recent events around the country.

Readers will be aware of a brawl involving a large number of people on Burrow Beach in north Dublin over the weekend just gone, when gardaí had to be called to disperse those fighting on the beach.

Then news emerged yesterday of an alleged assault on Ballybunion Beach in Co Kerry on Saturday evening, when a man had to be taken to University Hospital Kerry with non-life-threatening injuries.

Details clarifying the exact background to these events have yet to emerge, but it was notable that in the Dublin incident local representatives were swift to blame overcrowding and alcohol for anti-social behaviour.

One of those local representatives called on gardaí to start “proactively seizing alcohol” as a remedy, and as an immediate solution this proposal has its attractions. 

Good weather is a boon for all and not an excuse for the few to inflict the results of their misbehaviour on everyone else. 

A day at the beach is the platonic ideal of a family outing and should not be spoiled by the selfish.

Legislation, or its enforcement, should only be part of the solution, however. Personal responsibility has a role to play here, as beach users should acknowledge that the beach is a resource for all.

Given how difficult that concept seems for some to accept, “proactively seizing alcohol” may have to become an option instead.