'My father cannot have lost his life in vain' - Mayo family call for urgent action

THE daughter of a man who died after his car slipped into the water at Belderrig pier last month is calling on Mayo County Council to implement urgent safety and maintenance measures at piers and slipways across the county.

Joanna McNulty, from Belderrig in north Mayo is calling on Mayo County Council to put in place a maintenance plan for all piers and slipways after her father Joachim lost his life when his car slipped on algae at Belderrig pier in February.

Joachim McNulty, a lifelong fisherman who had used the pier for over 40 years, died on February 18 after his car slipped on an algae-covered slipway and entered the water at Belderrig. He was extremely familiar with the pier — as his father had been before him — and had regularly turned his car around there for decades.

Joachim was a devoted grandfather who lived with wife Geraldine just two minutes from Joanna and her husband. The arrival of his adored granddaughter, Fiadh, two years ago, “completely changed him.”

His daughter Joanna, told The Mayo News that “at the end of the day, if the pier was properly maintained, his handbrake on the car would have saved him. And I suppose that’s the main point I’m trying to get across.”

Joanna described the harrowing scene that night. When she and her family arrived at the pier after receiving a call from her mother Geraldine, the car had already gone under. “There were people on top of the pier, staring into the water,” she said. “We kind of figured what had happened at that stage.”

The family endured an agonising wait of almost four hours as emergency services worked to recover Joachim from the submerged car.

“During that time, we had to stand by helplessly and watch the waves toss his car around in the water,” Joanna recalls.

Before the car went under, Joachim had managed to phone his wife to tell her he had little time left. He had pulled the handbrake fully and his arm was badly bruised from trying to force open the door, but could not escape.

“My father fought to get out. The handbrake had been pulled to the last, and his arm was badly bruised from trying to open the door, but despite his best efforts he could not escape.”

Joanna told The Mayo News that the conditions at the pier were so treacherous that night that even the emergency divers who attended the scene were slipping on the surface. A local fisherman who had been at the same pier two or three weeks earlier had also slipped while launching his boat.

Joanna also noted the lighting situation at the pier. “I don’t know whether he’d have been able to see the brown algae at the top of the pier from the car, because at that time in the evening it would have been dark, and there’s not a whole lot of lighting down at the pier either.”

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Slipway still not cleared 

ADDING to the family’s grief, the slipway at Belderrig pier had still not been cleaned more than two weeks after the accident. Joanna posted photographs on Facebook showing the visible moss and algae build-up that remained on the surface.

Moss covering the Belderrig Pier

Since going public with her story, Joanna has been contacted by numerous people from across the county who say they had already raised concerns about pier safety with Mayo County Council — at Killala, French Port, and piers near Belmullet — but received no response. She described people who had slipped while going swimming or had been unable to launch boats for fishing, and highlighted.

“Even if this whole thing with Dad never happened, the council aren’t responding to the calls for help that are coming to them,” she said. “It’s impacting people’s livelihoods, for the fishermen in the area but also that social aspect of people meeting up to swim at the pier. In rural areas, that might be the only outing they have, and they can’t do it because it’s just not safe.”

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Political reaction

THE tragedy has prompted political reaction at both local and national level. Senator Mark Duffy raised the matter in Seanad Éireann, noting that he had previously called for improved pier maintenance on two occasions in the preceding nine months, including directly with a Minister on the floor of the Seanad.

Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Duffy called for a standardised approach to pier safety across the country: “Like if you go into a filling station and see on the back door of the bathroom ‘last cleaned by such and such on Tuesday’ — the same basic standard should be applied to piers. There should be a service level agreement with local authorities and contractors to make sure there’s adequate lighting, proper safety barriers, and a proper cleaning schedule to make sure it’s safe for pedestrians, tourists, fishermen and women, and anyone interacting with the pier.”

Senator Duffy is also calling for safety barriers to be installed at Belderrig Pier specifically, arguing that while regular cleaning is essential, moss and algae can quickly build up again and physical barriers would provide a vital additional safeguard against vehicles entering the water.

At Mayo County Council level, Councillor Michael Loftus — who attended the scene on the night as part of the Gráinne Uaile Sub Aqua Club — has tabled a Notice of Motion before Mayo County Council’s March monthly meeting yesterday afternoon. The motion calls on the council to put in place a structured and fully funded work plan for the regular inspection, maintenance and cleaning of all 26 to 28 piers and slipways under its responsibility across County Mayo.

The motion proposes that the plan establish a cleaning schedule for each pier, identify responsibility and oversight within the Council, provide an allocated budget, prioritise health and safety with particular regard to algae and slip hazards, and include engagement with local fishing communities, marine users and coastal residents.

Joanna McNulty said she is grateful to both Senator Duffy and Councillor Loftus for taking action, but stressed that the Council and all local representatives must now back these measures without further delay.

“No family should ever have to go through what ours has endured. My father cannot have lost his life in vain.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme