Donegal county council is to be asked to consider installing trackable life-saving rings after vandals stole a number of the devices.
A number of life-rings have gone missing around Donegal in recent months.
The rings only cost €25 but the missing devices are putting lives in danger when people go to use them and they are not there.
County councillor Gerry McMonagle says he is outraged at the stupidity of those stealing the rings.
Two of the safety rings went missing at the Oldtown Bridge in the heart of Letterkenny over the Christmas period.
Cllr McMonagle said “I’m not sure if it’s children doing this but if it’s adults then it’s a ridiculous situation and they need to stop it immediately.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle
“They are putting the lives of people in danger who may need these rings.
“Just before Christmas, a person fell into the water at the Port Bridge only a short distance away and they needed to be saved.
“These rings save lives and they should not be touched at any time.”
In a bid to stop the life-rings going missing, Cllr McMonagle is proposing a motion to install modern life-rings which can be tracked down if they are dislodged or stolen.
The rings have a tracker which send a text message to alert a designated person that the life-ring has been interfered with.
Cllr McMonagle added “I will be looking for support for this at council level and hoping that we can get these new rings placed around the county.
“It should not be an issue about money as we need to have a life-ring at every location they have been installed at and there is no excuse for them to be missing.
“If one of these new rings goes missing then we should be able to recover it or even replace it. We just can’t have a situation where people go and try to get a life-ring in an emergency and find it is not there.”
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