#Surfing - Decisions on what actions should be taken to improve safety for swimmers and surfers after the disappearance of an Irish man south of Australia's Gold Coast have yet to be made more than a year after the tragedy.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, 20-year-old Santry man Stuart Butler went missing after he and two friends were pulled out to sea by a rip current off Tallow Beach on 19 July 2014. His body was never recovered and he is presumed drowned.
Earlier this year an inquest into Butler's death heard that he and his friends did not appreciate the dangers of conditions at the time of the incident until they had already paddled out.
More recently, as the Northern Star reports, a meeting chaired by Byron mayor Simon Richardson with stakeholders from lifesaving and surfing groups among others failed to reach consensus about what measures can be made to prevent a similar tragedy happen in future.
"Budgets are an issue. Ongoing management and control is an issue but we just need to get groups together so when we get to Christmas and summer this year we might have something in place," said Mayor Richardson.
The discussions follow the installation of signage by the local council this past March advising bathers how to escape a rip current, after recommendations by the coroner's inquest.
The Northern Star has more on the story HERE.
