Surfers in the eye of the storm after 999 calls
THERE was public outrage when images appeared on social media of the emergency services, including the Coastguard’s Rescue 116 helicopter, being dispatched to Blackrock on Monday October 16 morning after windsurfers took to the waters of Dundalk Bay.
With a Red Alert declared for the whole country in advance of ex Hurricane Ophelia and the public advised to stay away from coastal areas, the wind surfers received a storm of abuse on social media.
The alarm had been raised after members of the public saw the wind surfers out in Dundalk Bay, and the Greenore Coastguard, Clogherhead Coastguard and RNLI lifeboat from Clogherhead, the Rescue 116 helicopter and gardai were tasked to the scene.
It subsequently emerged that they were experienced wind surfers who didn’t need any assistance to make their way ashore, with a spokesperson for Greenore Coastguard describing the incident as ‘ a false alarm with good intent’.
This was backed up by Gerard O’Flynn of the Irish Coast Guard who described it as an ‘ innocent error’, differentiating it from other incidents around the country.
‘ The bad weather hadn’t hit yet, and they were confident about what they were doing.’
However, photos taken after the men had come ashore sparked a storm on social media, with people branding them ‘selfish idiots’ and calling for them to be arrested or fined.
An experienced local surfer pointed out that the coastguard had acknowledged that the men were skilled and competent and that they had chosen the safest location to sail (on shore wind, waist deep water at a time five hours before the big winds were due) at a time when the winds were just 25 knots at the most.
He described the comments made on social media as ‘cyber bullying of the most vicious kind’ and expressed fears that it would deter people from going wind surfing at Blackrock for fear that a bystander with no understanding of the sport would call 999.
The incident at Blackrock and other locations around the country, prompted calls for the introduction of laws making it a criminal offence to ignore severe weather warnings.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joined the debate saying: ‘I think it is something that merits consideration.’
The Taoiseach said: ‘People who disobeyed the red alert and travel warnings didn’t just put themselves at risk they also put at risk the lives of other people, particularly our emergency services. But I would never rush into creating a new crime. I think it is something that we will have to consider.’