‘TikTok climbers risking their own lives and those of rescuers’
PEOPLE are putting their lives and the lives of rescue services at risk by climbing to a tourist attraction which has become even more popular in recent times due to social media platform TikTok, it has been claimed this week. Large numbers of people are now coming every weekend to climb up to Diarmuid and Gráinne’s cave at Gleniff Horseshoe in north Sligo.
But a councillor has said that while TikTok makes out that “it’s a great walk, great climb to do, see the lover’s cave and all the rest”, he is worried that people are putting their lives at risk. It came to light yesterday, Wednesday, that a woman who made the climb recently woke up with severe facial injuries in
Sligo University Hospital.
Cllr Donal Gilroy told the Sligo Weekender yesterday: “It’s a serious climb and it’s very dangerous.”
“A lot of people are seeing this on TikTok and they are heading up the mountain without even the right footwear.
“Realistically, we are going to be looking at every weekend or every couple of weekends having the mountain rescue team and the helicopter out there to lift somebody off what is a very dangerous place.
“It is also very dangerous for the helicopter crew as well because of the updrafts from such a steep slope.” He said that he had lived in the area all and his life and he “wouldn’t dream of risking going up there without someone who was very experienced”. He said last Sunday it was “like Grand Central Station” out in the Ballintrillick area with the numbers of people about because of the good weather.
But while most of those were content to drive or walk around the road at the scenic location, large numbers climbed the steep slope to the cave. Cllr Gilroy, pictured right, said that in the space of an hour he saw 40 people head up the mountain.
And he fears that if the weather is good this weekend, with it being a Bank Holiday, the crowds are going to be even greater.
He said that the people there came from all parts of Ireland and he had been talking to people from Japan and people from Brazil. “They’re are all hearing about it on TikTok,” he said.
He said these people were also ignoring signs on a gate which they cross to get to the mountain which clearly say that it’s ‘private property, no trespassing’. Cllr Gilroy said he got a call from one of the landowners to come up and see what they had to put up with every weekend and especially now that the tourism season has taken off.
He said that landowners were concerned about people using their land to make the climb. “It’s very dangerous and the day is going to come where somebody is going to try to take an action against some of these farmers for letting them on their land. That is why they cannot let people on their lands and people have to respect that,” he said.
Cllr Gilroy was also on the Clare Byrne show on RTÉ radio yesterday, Wednesday, morning and he said that after his interview a woman contacted the show to say that she climbed to the cave earlier this year and woke up in Sligo University Hospital five days later with severe facial injuries. He said that, apart from local landowners who where concerned about the situation, there was a coffee cart out in Ballintrillick and they had a sign up discouraging people from climbing to the cave.
Cllr Gilroy said that people didn’t need to make the climb to enjoy the beauty of the area.
“People can go up and look at it and photograph it from the. There’s breathtaking scenery to be enjoyed from the road.
“We’re victims of the beauty of our areas but let’s not spoil it. The shutters will be brought down by the landowners and it will be understandable,” he said.
And he said the inclusion of the north Sligo mountains in a video game and the Northman film, with Nicole Kidman and Björk, that was filmed there, coming out in October is going to attract even more visitors to the area.