RNLI volunteers must ‘walk through sewage’ to board the lifeboat

VOLUNTEER members of Kinsale’s RNLI are being forced to wade through raw sewage in the town’s harbour while operating their search and rescue service.

The ongoing issue of sewage in Kinsale Harbour has been one that Gerard Quinn, safety community officer with Kinsale RNLI, has been highlighting for years. Used nappies and other items regularly wash up on the steps on the lifeboat station.

‘I’ve been raising this issue since 2016 and others have also raised this but we seem to be getting nowhere. It’s an awful situation where our crew regularly have to walk through sewage to go out to help people in trouble while also cleaning down the equipment,’ he told The Southern Star.

‘The pipe discharging the sewage was extended last year by contractors but it should be another 40 metres out to sea, so it’s just too short. It’s a metre too high also because they had planned for it to sink into the sand and it might cost them thousands to rectify it.’

Gerard said the sewage sits on the water until there are heavy showers occurring and he is calling for this issue to be finally resolved. He said there was a large discharge of sewage during the recent Spalpeen Cup Race, which stuck to boats taking part.

‘The sewage washes up on the steps and the crew are walking in it before they go into the boat and it’s just not acceptable in this day and age. They have to come back and fix this pipe.’

He reports any sewage issues online to his RNLI bosses so all incidents are logged.

‘It’s going on six years and it’s completely frustrating that we have to put up with the smell and inconvenience.’

A RNLI spokesperson said they are aware of the occasional overflow of sewage at Kinsale Harbour and has engaged the relevant authorities about this.

‘Kinsale RNLI’s search and rescue service in the community is not impacted and our lifeboat remains fully operational. As a standard operating procedure, the inshore lifeboat is washed down on return to the station following every routine training exercise or call out.’

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said they are not aware of any such discharges from the Kinsale waste water treatment plant.

‘Uisce Éireann have discussed the matter with the RNLI and will be meeting them in person to investigate further.’