Enagh Lough: RoSPA asked to advise on safety after teenagers' deaths

Five weeks after the deaths of two teenagers at Enagh Lough, a council has agreed to ask an accident prevention group to examine safety at the site.

Sixteen-year-old friends Reuven Simon and Joseph Sebastian died after getting into difficulty at the lough in August.

The mayor of Derry City and Strabane Council called a multi-agency meeting on Thursday to discuss the waterway.

The council agreed to ask the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to conduct a "scoping exercise".

The purpose of the scoping exercise would be to give the council an idea about how much it would cost and how long it would take to carry out a formal assessment of safety measures at Enagh Lough.

Reuven and Joseph were pupils at St Columb's College in Londonderry.

They had been out cycling with friends on a warm late summer evening when they decided to stop for a swim in the lough which is just outside the city.

One of the boys died at the scene after getting into difficulty. The other was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital, where he was also later pronounced dead.

Police carried out inquiries but said they believed it was a tragic drowning incident.

The boys' deaths sparked calls for a review of safety at the waterway.

Thursday's meeting was convened by the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane Council Sandra Duffy.

"Our thoughts and deep sympathies were with the families at this meeting this afternoon," she said.

"I look forward to getting feedback from RoSPA [the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident] and getting their advice on how we can take proactive steps around safety measures and improvement actions at the lough. We all have a responsibility to do all we can to prevent another tragedy in this lough."

Who owns Enagh Lough?

Attendees heard that while Derry City and Strabane District Council does not own any of the land at Enagh Lough, and has "no statutory responsibility for waterways," it has taken a proactive approach to bring together interested parties to discuss safety measures.

"It was acknowledged at the meeting that ownership and responsibility for Enagh Lough is fragmented, with several different landowners owning various parts around the edge of the lough, and some of the bed and soil of the lough," a council statement said.

It added that as a result, attendees agreed that "a joint multi-agency approach was the best way forward".

Those who attended included the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI); the Loughs Agency; Foyle Search and Rescue Service; the Policing and Community Safety Partnership; representatives from Enagh Country Park; representative from the Honourable the Irish Society and several local politicians.

The council statement said: "It was unanimously agreed at the meeting that given RoSPA's track record as being best practice guides and experts in this topic, that the multi-agency group would engage with them to carry out an initial scoping exercise with a view to carrying out an assessment and report with recommendations."