Councillors in County Mayo have called on the local authority to erect safety rails and a weather warning system on Croagh Patrick to help prevent injuries on the popular pilgrimage mountain. Councillor Austin Francis O'Malley made his views known at a recent meeting of Mayo County Council after it emerged that almost 50 people were injured in the Reek Sunday climb, which takes place on the last Sunday in July.
Speaking at the meeting, he said, “There should be hand railings on the most dangerous parts of the mountain particularly since there is so much priority given nowadays to health and safety.”
His party colleague Cllr peter Flynn also called for a flag warning system to be set up to warn prospective climbers of the weather conditions.
He said, "The flags could be put up each morning indicating what the walking conditions were like.”
He added, “We also need to put up some signage at the bottom of the Reek, alerting climbers to what type of gear they should wear so that they can adapt accordingly to the prevailing weather conditions.”
However the Mayo County Council Manager Mr Peter Hynes confirmed to the meeting that, “Because the pilgrims path going up Croagh Patrick crosses commonage lands, Mayo County Council does not have any responsibility for it.”
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