Sea Donkey urges saving of Guernsey bathing pools diving board
An open water swimmer is among those campaigning to save a public diving board in Guernsey after the announcement of its removal due to safety concerns.Adrian Sarchet, known as the Sea Donkey, has called for members of the public to show support for the "iconic piece of heritage" at La Vallette Bathing Pools.The government said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had served a prohibition notice in relation to the diving board following reports of incidents and near misses.The HSE said the depth of the water under the platform fell below international standards and as a result it would have to be removed.
'Prohibitive' measures
It said the maximum depth of the water below the diving platform was 2.75m (9ft) which did not meet the 3.2m (10.5ft) minimum depth required by the World Aquatics and British Standards.The States of Guernsey said it considered increasing the depth of the pool, but the estimated £1m cost to do so was "prohibitive".It added: "Even if work was carried out to increase the depth of the pool, regulations from World Aquatics, the UK Health and Safety Executive and Swim England also state that users of any diving platform should be supervised at all times and that the diving area should be segregated from other swimmers. "Other options were considered including reducing its height, however, again this would still require continual supervision by lifeguards and segregation of the diving area, which was also considered to be prohibitive due to the cost of hiring the necessary staff."
'Lack of transparency'
Mr Sarchet said he understood the board would be removed on Tuesday 11 February.He said "there was a lack of transparency" around the decision after only being made aware of the plans on Thursday."I hope we can encourage HSE or at least the politicians they answer to, to postpone the planned removal of the diving board on Tuesday 11 February and to engage with the public on the perceived risks and potential solutions that do not involve the destruction of our shared heritage," Mr Sarchet said.HSE chief officer Robin Gonard said: "In light of the assessment we carried out, our decision was that immediate action needs to be taken to ensure compliance with modern safety standards to protect members of our community by avoiding the risk of serious injury or worse."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Teenager vows to ‘resist' any weakening of six-month timeframe for assessments
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would 'vigorously resist any negative change' to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause 'further permanent damage to children'. The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: 'My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. 'They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. 'Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future.' She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. 'Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' She added: 'Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. 'That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. 'It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer.' Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for 'Cara's Fund'.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Teenager vows to ‘resist' any weakening of six-month timeframe for assessments
The Government has 'systematically smashed' disability laws on important checks for children, a teenage campaigner has told the Oireachtas. Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. Advertisement An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would 'vigorously resist any negative change' to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause 'further permanent damage to children'. The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Advertisement Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Advertisement Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: 'My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. 'They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. Advertisement 'Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future.' She said Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. 'Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' She added: 'Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. Advertisement 'That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. 'It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer.' Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for 'Cara's Fund'.
BreakingNews.ie
05-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Government need to implement safeguarding legislation in nursing homes
The chairperson of Safeguarding Ireland, Patricia Rickard-Clarke, has repeated a call on the government to establish an interdepartmental interagency working group to implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission's report from April 2024, which set out the policy changes that needed to be made to implement safeguarding legislation. Ms Rickard-Clarke was responding to an RTÉ exposé into two nursing homes where residents were manhandled and ignored for long periods of time. Advertisement 'I am very disturbed and very distressed and very, very angry about this,' she told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland. 'We're 20 years after Leas Cross. We have gone backwards, I think.' While Leas Cross had been closed down advances had not been made in terms of what to do or what we should be doing, she said. 'There are questions to be answered by Hiqa. I would say, though, that in relation to Hiqa, one of the limitations it has is that it doesn't have the function of taking individual complaints or concerns. It looks at systemic issues, and it goes in on an irregular basis, and also, there was a delay in responding to a particular request (by a whistleblower).' 'That's just not acceptable. It's not acceptable even if there's one person being abused; that is a serious incident that should be followed up immediately.' Advertisement The implementation of the recommendations about safeguarding would provide a legal framework, she said. 'At the moment, we're working to a HSE limited policy, which is run by the HSE by safeguarding and protection teams, but it is limited to healthcare issues. 'There are much wider issues in safeguarding, and again, there are offences that should be implemented straight away. The Law Reform Commission sets out a number of offences that straight away could be enacted under criminal law. "This is the Department of Justice responsibility. So, an offence of intentional or reckless abuse and neglect or ill treatment, an offence for exposure to serious harm, an offence of endangerment. The criminal law it's all set out in the 2024 Bill. Advertisement 'We need what Safeguarding Ireland has recommended, which is the establishment of an independent adult safeguarding authority which will have functions and roles in relation to adult safeguarding to protect people from abuse. It would have the function of receiving reports of suspected abuse or actual abuse, and it would have the statutory function of responding to those abuses." Meanwhile, the CEO of The Alliance, a trade association for the nursing home sector in Ireland, Shane Scanlan, has said he was 'utterly shocked and appalled' by the RTÉ exposé. 'As a nurse myself and the director of nursing for over 10 years, you just really feel for the residents and families that have been affected by this,' he told Newstalk Breakfast. Mr Scanlon paid tribute to nurse Claire Doyle who was the 'whistleblower' who approached RTÉ and made protected disclosures. Advertisement 'The real question is, what if she never went to RTÉ with those protective disclosures, that she met and her students met, still went into Hiqa months before that? And it's a very brave thing she did, because it's not easy to pick up the phone or put something in writing and whistle blow. "And in her own words, she said, 'from my point of view, within the system, I cannot blow the whistle any louder. No one is listening.' So, fair play to her in fairness. She's really called out what's happened here.' The effectiveness of Hiqa had to be questioned, he added. Hiqa had been set up in the wake of the Leas Cross nursing home controversy to prevent such abuse from happening again. 'It's clear to us that they have failed to deliver on what they were set up to do. And there will be calls for further powers to be given to Hiqa, the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services, and that's not the answer here. Advertisement 'I'd be calling for an immediate, independent, root and branch review of how Hiqa carries out their inspections and their methodology. Because inspectors clearly need to spend more time observing care, speaking with staff, speaking to residents. "There's a huge amount of agency staff that's currently being used by Hiqa. Last year alone, they spent €1.89 million on agency staff. And you'd be wondering, what are agency staff doing within that organisation? "As I've said, a full review of the current leadership of Hiqa and its effectiveness needs to happen. And off the back of this scandal, you have the question, should there be some resignations here at the senior level?' Mr Scanlan called for stronger protection measures for those who make protected disclosures. How that person can be protected and what will happen immediately afterwards. 'I think there's a taboo still in Ireland about making a protected disclosure for the fear of what will happen afterwards. You know, you might be in a job, you may be thinking down the line of a future career, will this get out in the public? We need to really look at that as a country.'
