#RED BULL CLIFF DIVING - Red Bull will publicise the risks involved with cliff diving in an effort to avoid copycat attempts by the public after its event on Inis Mór next month, said a spokesperson.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will make a stop in the Aran Islands on the weekend of 3-4 August, where the world's best cliff divers will converge for the season's halfway stage.
However, fears have been raised by the islands' GP after copycat attempts at a similar event in 2009 resulted in a number of serious injuries.
Video footage of that event posted on YouTube was blamed for inspiring untrained people to cliff dive with no safety or rescue personnel present. In one case this resulted in a "very serious" spinal injury, said Dr Marion Broderick.
Of particular concern is the location of the diving site at the Serpent’s Lair – ‘Poll na Peist’ in Irish – which is in an area with poor mobile phone reception, a situation compounded by the GP's lack of a handheld VHF radio.
The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.