City Council replaces 150 vandalised ringbuoys every year

And it is costing Galway City Council some €4,000 every year to replace damaged or missing lifebuoys at the city’s beaches, canals, waterways and piers.

The local authority has confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that some €71,230 has been spent replacing damaged or stolen lifebuoys at 60 city locations since 2001.

During that 17-years period, the Council said 1,389 life-rings have had to be replaced. Some of them were replaced due to wear and tear but the vast majority were deliberately damaged or stolen. This figure does not include missing lifebuoys at 20 locations in County Galway that are looked after by the City Council.

A spokesperson confirmed that in recent years the Council is having to replace on average two or three of the lifebuoys every week, which is around 150 per year.

He said that as well as the financial cost of replacing lifebuoys, a lost lifebuoy could amount to a lost life.

“We have incurred a fair amount of cost in replacing damaged or stolen lifebuoys. There are three elements to it: the rings themselves, the ropes, and the holders. Paying about €4,000 a year to replace this equipment is excessive. Leaving aside the financial cost, damaging and stealing lifebuoys puts lives at risk.

“The lifebuoys are there for a reason and are strategically placed at waterways around the city so that if someone gets into trouble in the water, the lifebuoys can be thrown in to save them. I haven’t had any definitive reports that someone has drowned because a lifebuoy was missing but it is reckless behaviour to damage or steal life-saving equipment.

“A lifebuoy is something that doesn’t have to be used for several years and is there in case of an emergency and someone is in the water and needs to be rescued. Ideally that doesn’t happen very often but the lifebuoy needs to be there for times when it does happen.

“We would appeal to people not to damage or steal lifebuoys because you are putting people’s lives in danger. We would also appeal to the public to report to us if they see anyone damaging or stealing lifebuoys,” added the Council spokesperson.

Irish Water Safety at Long Walk said a stolen lifebuoy is a stolen life. It has urged members of the public to report missing lifebuoys at the website ringbuoys.ie and not to presume someone else has reported them missing or damaged.