Boyne garbage poses risk to rescue efforts

By Fiona Magennis, Drogheda Independent - Friday September 9th 2005

DEBRIS in the Boyne, including railings, trolleys, and bicycles, can seriously hamper divers during rescue attempts, according to the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery Service (BFRRS).

During the annual clean-up of the River Boyne, carried out by the BFRRS over 150 trolleys and two jumbo bins full of debris were removed from the river around the vicinity of Dominic’s Bridge.

‘There was a huge amount of waste taken out of the river and all of this debris hugely hampers our efforts,’ said a spokesperson for the BFRRS.

‘You can imagine diving, trying to get through things like railings, bicycles and even prams, it’s terrible,’ he said.

The clean-up of the water was carried out in conjunction with Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Crowe’s Super Valu L&N on Saturday, August 20, with the assistance of Panda Waste Management and took a number of hours as trolleys, prams, steel barricades and bicycles were removed.

‘People threw all kinds of things into the river, they just don’t think about the consequences this will have.

‘The situation is actually getting worse and it is putting people’s lives at risk,’ said the spokesperson.

The service were called out at 11pm on Friday, September 2, and due to the rapid response of their volunteers they managed to rescue a man who fell into the river at the Haymarket Bridge. The victim was removed by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Meanwhile, the BFRRS have recently completed an intensive summer training programme and 22 volunteers took the ISA Level 2 national power boat handling course on August 27.

The course was conducted by instructors from the Lough Derg Power Boat School and all those who took part passed with flying colours.

© Drogheda Independent