"I will not let my dad become a statistic" - Mayo's Joanna McNulty

Mayo County Council has begun a county-wide programme of slipway cleaning following the death of a north Mayo fisherman whose car slipped on algae at Belderrig pier last month.

Joachim McNulty died on February 18 after his car slid on an algae-covered slipway and entered the water at Belderrig. His death prompted his daughter Joanna and local politicians to call for urgent action on the maintenance of piers and slipways across the county.

At a recent Mayo County Council Economic and Enterprise Development SPC meeting, Cllr Michael Loftus — who was present at the scene on the night of the tragedy — raised the issue directly with council management. "The cleaning process and how we go about cleaning those slipways on a regular basis really has to be looked at, because we don't want another fatality like we had in Belderrig with the loss of Mr McNulty's life due to a slipway that was covered in moss, and massive loss to the family out there in Belderrig," he said.

In a notable development that was welcomed warmly by the McNulty family, the Belderrig slipway itself was cleaned on March 18 and 19 March.

Cllr Loftus welcomed the fact that it was cleaned and thanked Michael O’Boyle, the head of Marine with Mayo County Council, "I want to say thank you, because when he said he would clean it, it was done.”

In the 37 days since her father’s death, Joanna McNulty has campaigned for better pier safety and launched a petition that has already received over 2,000 online signatures and more than 500 physical signatures.

On Friday, she wrote to Minister of State Timmy Dooley seeking a meeting so that “we can work out a strategy which ensures the local relevant authorities have the means and resources to make our piers safer and are held accountable for the same.”

In her email to Minister of State with special responsibility for the Marine, she asked, “Minister Dooley, do you know what its like to sit at a pier at high tide with a heavy swell, surrounded in silence by your heartbroken neighbours, family and friends, watching your fathers car being thrown around by the waves, upside down on its roof and wondering if his body is still in the car or if you're going to get his body back?

“Do you know what its like to be sleep deprived for this long and have to get up with your 18 month old daughter every single morning while she still cries and calls for her grandad and try to explain to her that he's with God now?”

She also pledged that she will “not let my dad become a statistic. I will not let this happen to another family.”

Speaking to The Mayo News, Joanna explained that she has teamed up with former Mayo Man of The Year, Darren Forde who has designed and patented a telescopic safety barrier. They are now seeking government engagement to see if it is possible to fund an installation of these safety barriers at every pier across the nation.

Darren Forde and Joanna McNulty holding the telescopic safety barrier at Belderrig Pier

'Gobsmacked'
At Thursday's Mayo County Council meeting, Cllr Loftus also revealed that the number of piers Mayo County Council is responsible for is larger than many had assumed.

"There are in excess of 50 slipways that are under the responsibility of Mayo County Council. I'm gobsmacked — it's 50 slipways," he said, adding that the issue demands immediate policy attention. He also drew a stark warning from recent history: "It's something that we need to be very, very wary of, because it's 10 years ago since the loss of lives in Buncrana."

The councillor called for a formal maintenance policy to be established, and suggested that users of slipways — including commercial and recreational fishermen — may need to contribute financially to their upkeep. "I'm asking for some sort of policy to be put in place for the cleaning of slipways, and whether a levy has to be put on people who use the slipways," he said. "There has to be some payback too, because it can't all be left to the council to do the financing of it."

In response, Michael O'Boyle, Head of Marine at Mayo County Council, confirmed that work is already under way. "We have started our season of cleaning already this year. We will be finishing off the first set of cleanings in the next couple of weeks. And we're actively looking at updating and reviewing our protocols in relation to the slipways — so that work is going on at the minute," he said.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme