As part of Bloom in Bagenalstown weekend, Carlow Sports Partnership have officially launched the new Outdoor Swim Infrastructure and Loc8 code Public Safety App.
The public safety initiative will help emergency services to locate those in need of assistance along the River Barrow route, once the app is downloaded on their phone.
Speaking on the Saturday Show, Cathaoirleach of Muine Beag Municipal District Cllr. Tommy Kinsella said that the initiative was the brainchild of a local resident.
“It’s probably new to a lot of people, but it was the brainchild of Christy Ward, now Christy was a regular walker along the Barrow, and I suppose he works with the emergency services, he recognised along the Barrow that there can be a problem, or if someone has a mishap, it important for the emergency services to get there as quickly as possible, but to do that they have to know where to go to. So Christy put in a lot of all voluntary work for two or three years, gathered a lot of information from the loch keepers, in conjunction then with waterways Ireland then he was responsible, so if someone gets into difficulty then, they know where they are.”
