Gardaí called after nude bather refused to cover up

A STANDOFF between lifeguards and a nudist took place at a top-rated beach this summer, official records revealed.

The birthday-suited woman in her 20s was first spotted by lifeguards on a standup paddleboard, with two men and a dog at Keem Beach on Achill Island last July.

The strand in Co. Mayo was inundated by visitors after restrictions were eased.

Records released under Freedom Of Information (FOI) laws detailed the incident on July 17, when the woman was naked on the beach for hours.

One lifeguard wrote: ‘I blew my whistle [to get] their attention and asked the group to come into shore.

‘[But] the man who wasn’t on the board then pushed them out to sea and came in to speak to me. I made him aware that it wasn’t a nudist beach and explained that we’d got a complaint from a lady who was concerned about her kids,’ she said.

The man agreed to convey a message to the woman to ‘come back into shore and put on clothes/bikini bottoms’.

When he didn’t and more complaints were received, one of the lifeguards decided to approach the nudist directly.

‘I explained that it was illegal and that we’d now had several complaints. She

reluctantly agreed and went back up to her towel and bags, where she made no effort to cover up or clothe herself.

‘She remained on the beach, where she sunbathed for approximately an hour, still naked, and got back into the water on the stand-up paddleboard alone.’

Around 3.50pm, the lifeguards called the authorities and a garda arrived at the beach an hour-and-a-half later, at which point the woman finally ended the standoff by putting on a towel.