Mid Ulster: shocking number of pieces of lifesaving equipment damaged at Coalisland Canal towpath revealed

Aside from the lives being put at risk, replacing such vital equipment comes at a cost – £11,000 – but most worrying of all is the fact that the local authority is largely powerless when it comes to stopping irresponsible individuals from tampering with such essential health and safety fixtures along the watercourse.

Speaking at a recent Development Committee meeting, Councillor Nuala McLernon (Sinn Féin, Torrent DEA) asked: “At last month’s committee meeting I raised the issue of the lifesaving equipment being damaged along the Coalisland Canal towpath, and I just wanted to ask if officers have been able to provide any figures in relation to my requests or any solutions that we can do to deter this from happening.”

Assistant director of Health, Leisure & Wellbeing, Kieran Gordon replied: “Specifically with regards to the Coalisland Canal, from August 2022 until the middle of November 2024, we have had reports of 299 items that have needed to be replaced, and this is at a cost of over £11,000.

“That’s mainly replacing the housings and any of the throwlines. We are looking at various measures. I suppose there is no quick fix in this and we are looking at educational messages as well.

“We are looking at enhanced signage. There’s a lot of pros and cons with a lot of the different solutions out there in the marketplace, because you want these very valuable pieces of equipment to be accessible and easy to obtain if somebody’s in difficulty, but at the same time I think there’s a big education piece that we need to do to really reinforce how valuable these pieces of equipment are.

“So there’s number of measures officers are looking at at the minute, and we are going to be bringing those forward, specifically for Coalisland Canal, and other water recreational sites as well. But it is certainly something that is very high up on our agenda. Our teams are regularly attending these sites.

“We encourage members and community advocates alike to keep raising issues with us. We’ll get down there as quick as we can and everybody’s support is welcomed.”