Water safety boss calls for new measures after teens' deaths in Buncrana
THE STATE WATER safety agency has urged the Government to contact IPAS centres in order to offer educational resources following the tragic death of two teenagers who died after getting into difficulty swimming off the coast of Buncrana in Co Donegal.
It comes as local politicians and organisations have raised the need for water safety awareness among people living in International Protection accommodation, with one community worker stressing that many living in these centres come from landlocked countries, or far away from coastlines.
There is currently no lifeguard on any of Buncrana's five beaches since Lisfannon lost its Blue Flag status, the local swimming pool has been closed for the last ten years, and children living in IPAS centres cannot cross the border to attend swimming lessons in Derry – a common practice for other schoolchildren in the county.
The CEO of Water Safety Ireland has told
The Journal
that she has written to IPAS services requesting that they send information packs and safety course supplies to centres nationwide.
As teachers typically use these to teach children in schools about water safety, the service has been asked how it plans to provide the information to people living in centres.
'Everyone knows not to go left at Ned's Point'
The treacherous nature of the undercurrents in one section of the sea accessible from Ned's Corner, where the two young men entered the water, is well known within the local community.
The Swilly swimmers – a group with 40-50 members – set out at the crack of dawn to swim at Ned's point most weekday mornings. They don't swim around the rocks to the left where the undercurrent can be treacherous.
That's common local knowledge, but there was no way for Emmanuel Familola (16) who came here only a couple of years ago with his family from Nigeria, and Matt Sibanda (18) who came with his from landlocked Zimbabwe to know it.
Luke Mullins runs the Inishowen Surf School.
'There is signage in the area warning that it could be dangerous for swimming, but it's not on every lamppost – maybe you'd need to be looking for it to see it,' he said.
'That isn't an area people are coming from wide and far to swim in, it would be local people who know the waters. It's basically a funnel in that section of the water, the tide came back in and swept them up. The tide has a serious pull. You wouldn't see it from the pier, but you'd feel it once you were in the water,' he added.
'We have to find a way to communicate that kind of thing to people living in IPAS centres,' said Paul Kernan, who works with the Donegal Intercultural Program, which offers independent advocacy and advice to International Protection Applicants.
Kernan was familiar with the two boys who lost their lives and their families, as well as the third boy who managed to swim ashore, and survived.
His organisation works with people living in all 30 IPAS accommodation centres in Donegal.
'Some people are leaving dense urban areas to a place like Donegal, with a huge coastline. Swimming in a pool is not the same as the sea, but it's a start, and it's a place where conversations about water safety take place. The local pool in Buncrana has been boarded up for ten years – and though locals campaigned for it to be reopened – it missed out on Government funding again in 2024.'
Kernan said that a lack of access to swimming lessons or facilities is an issue facing refugees in the county beyond the Buncrana area.
'Some of the schools do swimming lessons in Derry, and we're aware that in those cases children who are IPAS residents haven't been able to take part, because they are not allowed to cross the border,' he said.
Paul said that his organisation is continuing to support the families, and that a group of Zimbabweans, who didn't know the families, arranged to travel from Letterkenny to Buncrana over the weekend to offer their support.
He added that though there have been anti-refugee protests in the area, including an arson attack on a proposed accommodation site, since the tragedy, people have banded together to try and support the refugee community and the boy's families.
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'Darkness descended'
'It was very innocent, what happened,' said local councillor Fionán Bradley. 'Emmanuel, Matt, and a third boy went out to play football at the green area in Ned's Point on Saturday. Their ball went into the water, and all three decided to swim out after it.
'The tide was quite far out. By the time they got to the ball, and looked back, they realised that they had swam further than they'd realised. One of the boys pointed out a strip of sand across the way – a beach – and suggested they swim to that.
'Water is deceptive when you are in it, it's hard to know how far a distance really is. And in those cold waters, it would have been extremely difficult to make it to the sand.'
Bradley, who is also a teacher, taught the younger of the boys who passed away after getting into difficulty swimming – Emmanuel Familola (16), who came to Ireland with his family from Nigeria.
The alarm was raised by a member of the public around 4pm, after the boys had entered the water. The Malin Head Coast Guard led a massive multi-agency search that lasted into the night.
Emmanuel was rescued from the water and rushed to Letterkenny University Hospital where doctors worked desperately to save him – but he passed away overnight.
Matt Sibanda's body was removed from the water just after 9pm. He was pronounced dead.
Throughout the search, family members, friends, school mates and football club team mates lined the pier, waiting for news.
At Sunday mass, Father Francis Brady recalled seeing one of the boy's mothers crying over his body, saying his name again and again.
'Saturday was a perfect day. The primary schools had Holy Communions on, there was a wedding in the town, Donegal were in the Ulster Football Final. Ned's Point would have been thronged. Then the news broke out in the late afternoon, about the search operation, what had happened to the boys, and darkness descended on us. It was still sunny, but it felt dark. It's been like that since,' councillor Bradley said.
In the wake of the tragedy, he's been thinking about how incidents like this could be avoided in the future.
'When we had a lifeguard on one of the beaches, it meant people congregated on that beach – Lisfannon. I'm not saying that could have made a difference, or changed anything.
'But going forward, Buncrana is one of the most popular spots between Derry and Donegal, it ought to have a beach with a lifeguard, by pure coincidence that was raised at the last council meeting here, and there will be a real push for it now,' he said.
'It was hard not to cry in that church'
Yesterday afternoon Bishop Donal Mckeown led a 'vigil for hope' at St Mary's Oratory Church.
He said that over one thousand people gathered to support each other, 'people were in the aisles, out of the doors, and in the carpark,' he added.
He said that people impacted by other tragedies in the area, including those who had lost children in the water, and some from the Creeslough community, came to lend their support, and to process their own feelings.
'It was retraumatising for many people, they relived the losses they themselves have been through' Bishop Mckeown said.
However, he added that it was incredible to see how the community banded together.
'Buncrana has found the strength to welcome people who have joined their community and support them, and that is vital,' he said.
Water Safety Ireland offered its condolences to the family and friends of Emmanuel Familola and Matt Sibanda. Its advice on staying safe while swimming this summer
is available here.
The IPAS service within the Department of Children has been contacted for comment.
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