COMMENT

THE recent spell of good weather showed that Irish people will embrace the great outdoors in their droves when the temperature rises.

The month of July provided us with a rare opportunity to see Ireland in all its glory, from its manicured parks and gardens to its majestic mountains, rivers and lakes.

All of our popular beaches were packed with enthusiastic day-trippers as children excitedly waded into the water and ice-cream van owners did a roaring trade.

But behind all the picture postcard moments there were unbearable tragedies with the number of drownings entering into double digits.

The Irish Coastguard and RNLI volunteers have been kept busy and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for helping to keep us safe on the water. And in a bid to stem the rising number of deaths, there were also regular warnings issued by Irish Water Safety.

But we need to meet the authorities half way by improving our own attitudes to water safety.

It wasn’t difficult to find examples of reckless behavior on our beaches in the past few weeks: young children in the water unsupervised by adults; people in canoes and inflatable rafts not wearing buoyancy aids; alcohol being consumed before swimming.

Our waterways and beaches are fantastic amenities but can be unpredictable and hostile environments. An inviting looking sea can be deceptively treacherous due to strong currents or rip tides. A calm lake can get deep extremely quickly. And a small weir on a river can have a deadly tow back that will trap even the most competent swimmer.

In the same way that we have adjusted our driving habits in response to carnage on our roads, we need to reassess our way of thinking when it comes to water safety.

By all means enjoy the water – but please don’t become another heartbreaking statistic for the summer of 2013.