THERE WERE no official guides on the Skellig Michael world heritage site on Sunday when a 77-year-old American tourist lost his life as the official visiting season to the world heritage site had not started, the Office of Public Works (OPW) confirmed.
The Skellig Michael opening season in 2009 is between May 21st and September 25th, according to visitor information on the Department of the Environment list of heritage sites open to the public. However, up to 100 visitors were on the Skellig on Sunday.
None of the ferries had been issued with landing permits for the season because of a dispute, the OPW also confirmed. Three to four guides reside on the island, 12km off the coast of Kerry, which is considered a dangerous site, from the latter half of May until the end of September.
They advise on safety, the island’s wildlife and the history of the dramatically perched early medieval monastic settlement.
The spokesman for the OPW said while the island – which is owned by the Department of the Environment on behalf of the State – is never closed off as such, the OPW “prefer it” if the public visit when the guides are resident during the advertised season.
There is no charge for visiting the island but private licensed boat operators charge visitors for the sea trip from the mainland.
The Skellig receives 11,000 visitors per season. Up to 100 people were on the island last Sunday.
Joseph Gaughan, from Pennsylvania, was with members of his family. He had reached the summit and was on his way down when he fell. He was pronounced dead on the mainland at Portmagee. A nurse who happened to be on the Skellig attempted resuscitation.
The OPW has rejected calls for a safety rail in their management plan. However guides who operate on the island are trained in safety and first aid issues, and are told to issue safety advice to visitors embarking from boats, and again at the monastic site before they make their way down the sheer 600 steps, the spokesman said.
“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr Gaughan,” he said of the fatality. The OPW was awaiting the results of the postmortem as well as the Garda report into the matter before any further comment, he said: “Unfortunately, the season where we present the island to the public had not yet begun and so we didn’t have any guides on the island at the time.”
The OPW advises there are inherent dangers visiting Skellig Michael, that there are no toilets, and protective clothing and proper footwear are necessary.
Contacted yesterday, one of the regular boat operators to the Skellig said the ferries were fully licensed by the Department of the Marine as passenger boats.
Sunday had been a bright sunny day and it was a well-known fact the Skellig boats operated from Easter, he said. That there were no guides on the island was a matter for the OPW. Private boats were also in the vicinity, the boatman said. He denied that guides offer safety advice when passengers were landed.
The Skellig had a better safety record than other popular areas such as the Cliffs of Moher and Carrauntoohil, the boatman said.