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A VIDEO PURPORTING to show a man leaping off the Blackrock Diving Tower at Salthill in Galway on Sunday, as Storm Isha hit the west coast, was viewed 1.4 million in the 24 hours after it was posted on the social media platform X yesterday afternoon.
The video, posted on X by Galway Tourism, a private tourism organisation, and also circulated by other accounts on TikTok, shows waves battering the diving tower, and the man emerging safely from the sea.
Meanwhile, photographs taken by the PA news agency and widely published yesterday, showed people walking right down to the rocks at another Salthill spot to take photos. In some of PA’s shots, people can barely be seen through the sea spray.
The behaviour of a small number of members of the public at the weekend was in sharp contrast with the advice circulated by the RNLI on Friday as Storm Isha approached. The lifeboat charity urged the public to exercise “extreme caution, particularly along exposed cliffs, seafronts and piers”.
With Storm Jocelyn, the 10th named storm of the season, set to hit the west coast tomorrow evening – and yellow wind warnings due to be in place from noon for Clare, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo – both the RNLI and the Coast Guard have urged the public to stay not only out of the sea but well back from it.
Longstanding sea swimmers at Salthill too told The Journal that even experienced swimmers need to be extremely careful when conditions are rough.
Even during a yellow wind warning, the lowest alert level, there is a risk of large coastal waves and waves overtopping, according to Met Éireann.
The video on X was taken before a red warning alert, the highest level, kicked in for Galway at 5pm yesterday.
Tim Doran, a water safety partner at the RNLI, said: “It’s always been there – whenever there are severe weather events, it’s human nature to want to go and look.”
“Looking at some of these images, I understand why people want to get close [to the sea] but the risk is huge of getting swept off your feet and ending up in the water,” Doran said.
“It’s 6-10 degrees in the water now, about as cold as you can get around this island, and there is a risk of cold water shock.”
He emphasised that the RNLI does not criticise any individuals and is there to respond to anyone who needs help, without judgment, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
When the body enters cold water shock, which is possible year round in Ireland given sea temperatures rarely get above 15 degrees, breathing increases rapidly and people can start to panic as they struggle to get enough air.
A keen water sportsman himself, Doran stayed at home on Sunday in Sligo, where there was an orange wind warning in place, the second most severe alert level.
Paddy McNamara, a longstanding swimmer at Salthill, said: “If it is too rough, don’t go in. You will only endanger yourself. It’s not just can you swim in it, but can you get out?”
McNamara said he did not know the person in the video on X and could not comment on its particulars.
“Ideally, you don’t need to go in when it’s that rough: the sea will still be there tomorrow,” he advised.
However, he added that experienced swimmers will be mindful of local conditions and factors including tide times, adding that county-level weather warnings do not always materialise as unswimmable seas at a local level.
He said in the same way that there are “hillwalkers and people who go climbing Mount Everest” there are are some swimmers who can manage rough conditions that would not be possible for others.
Joe Kennelly, an open water swimmer and coach who organises a swimming group at Salthill, said: “I’ve reflected on it today and getting in at the [Blackrock] Tower was quite ridiculous.”
He said daily sea swimming was a passion and an important element of wellbeing for many people, and it would always be hard to dissuade these people from getting in the sea when there were, for example, yellow warnings in place.
However, in rough conditions, “if one feels one has to experience cold water immersion, it should be off a little sandy beach where you are at your depth and you can experience it safely”, he said.
“From what we’ve seen yesterday and during the last few storms, there should be a more concerted [safety] campaign aimed at all of us, experienced and less experienced, not just because of what we can do to ourselves but the repuecussions for other people: those involved in seach and rescue, coastal units, gardaí, civil defence, and the volunteers’ family and and friends,” Kennelly said.
Galway Tourism was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of writing. It posted on X, after it initially shared the video of the man jumping off the tower: “Avoid sea swimming on stormy days and heed weather warnings!”
Ahead of tomorrow’s weather warnings, a spokesman said the Coast Guard “advises people to be mindful of the danger posed by large breaking waves and very windy conditions in coastal areas”.
“If you are travelling near the coast, tell someone where you are going and what time you will be back. Watch out for incoming tides to avoid getting cut off. Stay back, stay high, stay dry,” the Coast Guard said.
The RNLI advises people struggling in cold water to “float to live”: lie back and try to relax until they can control their breathing, buying time to call for safety or get to shore. For those on shore who spot someone else in trouble, the advice is to call 999 or 112 and ask for the coast guard, rather than getting in the water.
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