Ice Diving in Ireland

17th January 2011

The recent arctic weather allowed many Irish divers to try out a type of diving that is only normally carried out in the Arctic, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Canada and much more Northern climates writes Timmy Carey. Many Irish rivers froze over completely, something that hasn't happened in recent living memory. This however is a hazardous form of diving as with thick ice if the diver cannot find the hole they entered they will drown if the ice is too thick to break and so they have a rope link to the hole. The other big hazard being hypothermia with the water being a very chilly two degrees celsius!, with most divers being thoroughly chilled after about 10 to 15 minutes. The big advantage
with this type of diving is generally that the visibility is excellent and allows a diver to try out ice diving without the cost of traveling to the arctic circle!

Stephane Portrait surfacing after a 20 minute dive under the ice of the river Blackwater in Munster

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