Sir, - Last week, while on holiday in Menorca, I witnessed an appalling tragedy at the swimming pool in our holiday complex. A little six-year-old boy drowned in the pool at 11.15 in the morning. His family had arrived less than an hour before. As at many other Spanish resorts, there was no lifeguard on duty. For many of those present the meaning of the phrase "every parents' nightmare" is now a stark reality.
As a parent myself, and on behalf of other parents present at the time, I am writing this letter to highlight this fact to emphasise that we must be ever-vigilant, especially where there are large numbers of young children swimming. This is not to suggest that on this occasion the parents were anything but vigilant, but in a split second the lives of a whole family were shattered.
The response by the holiday operators on the ground was "bizarre". The pool was open within an hour of the tragedy. This was followed by a complete clampdown on information by travel representatives, and a failure to inform incoming families that a tragedy had occurred at the pool.
My confidence in the travel industry has been severely damaged. It is my view that the industry has a serious responsibility to ensure that adequate health and safety standards exist at all swimming pools in holiday resorts. More importantly - and especially at a time when many may be considering future holidays - tour operators have a duty to say in their brochures whether or not a lifeguard or other supervision is present in the resort complexes they promote.
While the presence of lifeguards in itself will not prevent all accidents, it may reduce their prevalence and could at least lessen the seriousness of their outcome. - Yours, etc.
Brian Wall, Leopardstown Grove, Blackrock, Co Dublin.