Apologies to our readers if the feature photo here causes offence, it’s a photo of a dead lamb spotted yesterday in the River Liffey close to the bridge in Ballymore Eustace, where less than two days previously, two children were rescued from the river. On Tuesday last, two youth, aged 10, got into difficulties, as they were whipped by an undercurrent and swept down river but thankfully, rescued by an older youth and a parent.
The River Walk in the village has become an increasingly popular spot for walkers, anglers, family picnics and during the heatwave, swimmers. The area recently has been buzzing with swimmers and children wading in downstream from Golden Falls dam, which earlier this week, was releasing water at five times the normal release!
Kerrieanne O’Sullivan found herself in the terrifying situation of having to rescue her own child, Matilda (Tilly, aged 10) after she and another 10 year old were suddenly snatched by an undercurrent and pushed out of their depth.
“I arrived at the river circa 3pm where there were other children and parents enjoying the amenity and area along the River Walk” said Kerrieanne. “I know to listen out for the ‘hooter’ which flags water releases from the dam at Golden Falls. At 5.20pm after the children were in and out of the same spot for almost 2 and a half hours, a young boy cried out and we could see he was in trouble!
“Minutes before this I photographed them all, standing knee deep in water and suddenly he was being whipped down river. My daughter Tilly who is only 10 is a good swimmer and she went towards her friend and was similarly caught by the current.
“I jumped in to catch her whilst a teenager Jonathon Browne ran and jumped into the middle of the river and grabbed the boy. I struggled to reach and catch my daughter as I was wearing a long linen over shirt but I caught Tilly and threw her onto the bank, and then tried to help Jonathon and the other child as they were being pushed down river.”
Miss O’Sullivan (photographed at the River Walk where the incident occurred earlier this week) is herself Chair of the local Community Development Association which oversees the River Walk and Tidy Towns who maintain the amenity which has become a major social and community facility in the village in recent years. The mother of the other child also confirmed with KildareNow that she was present at the river for two hours prior to the incident and heard no hooter or warning that water levels were increasing.
“I hadn’t heard the hooter all day and I was there for about 2 hours in the afternoon. One of my children was standing up his elbows in the river, he can swim but wouldn’t be a proficient swimmer. When suddenly he felt the water current sweeping him along and pulled him downriver, out of his depth. It was so scary, and happened so quickly and I am so grateful that he is safe. This could have been an awful tragedy, we are swimming there regularly during the heatwave and this never occurred before.”
The ESB operate water releases from Golden Falls into the River Liffey, a daily average of 1.5 cubic metres per second. However, owing to an operational issue at their Leixlip plant, on Tuesday last, circa 9.30am, the release was 6-8 cubic metres per second. On Wednesday, the water release occurred at 9am, circa 5 cubic metres.
A hooter traditionally warns the local population that the water release is imminent and therefore, the water level rises quickly and moves at high speed, and ultimately treacherous for swimmers or anglers.
However, with the increased water releases, the river current is faster and water depth remaining higher throughout the day. In reply to KildareNow’s queries as to the recent increased water releases and advance notice, the ESB stated:
“We can confirm that we were discharging between 6 and 8m3/s at Golden Falls from 9am on Tuesday, 10 July until 8.30am yesterday (Thursday). Due to operational reasons, we had low levels in Leixlip Reservoir so we had to supplement this with additional flows from Pollaphuca Reservoir.
Discharges in the coming days will depend on weather conditions and river flow”.
The statement continued: “We publish forecasts daily on the hydrometric information pages on ESB.ie here: https://www.esb.ie/our-businesses/generation-energy-trading-new/hydrometric-information/river-liffey
Please note that, as outlined in the forecast documents, the forecast discharges are ESB’s best estimates at a single moment in time”.
An ESB sign at the Bridge in Ballymore Eustace warns of the sudden rises in water levels.
However, Miss O’Sullivan was furious at the lack of any attempts to inform the public and local community of the imminent danger re increased water releases along the river, at five times the level of normal releases.
“I’m well aware of the significance of the hooter and I would certainly NEVER allow my children into the water after the hooter is sounded. This area of the river has been used every day for weeks now, and is especially busy during the afternoons with families and teenagers there. Where was the media awareness or any communications to the community on this?”
The ESB statement noted “The ESB is acutely conscious of the public’s safety and have assessed the rate of rise of water levels downstream of all its dams. This has been taken into account on all ESB dams to ensure the public have time to safely egress from the river as a result of ESB’s operations”.
The stretch of river where the dangerous incident occurred on Tuesday, above, is a very popular with locals and visitors during the heatwave.
However, both parents are adamant they were on duty with their children at the swimming spot along the River Walk since 3pm on Tuesday, almost two and a half hours prior to the frightening incident occurring. That’s almost four and a half hours after the ESB’s own notice on their website of a water release at 1pm, with another release flagged for 9pm that night.
Another community activist noted “We get appeals after windy weather not to swim near fallen cables; we get appeals not to travel after stormy weather and fallen trees, or snow….nor to drive on icy roads, and to conserve water. And yet, in the midst of the biggest heatwave ever, the ESB didn’t think to alert the wider community and people of Co Kildare as to the increased water releases and potential danger?”
A member of the local Community Development Association has been in touch with Kildare County Council since, and it has been agreed that a lifebuoy will be erected along the River Walk.
For regular updates, see http://www.esbhydro.ie/Liffey/01-Liffey-Releases.pdf
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