Ruth Maguire's family calling for safety rail to be built on Carlingford pier to avoid repeat of tragedy
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Ruth Maguire's family calling for safety rail to be built on Carlingford pier to avoid repeat of tragedy

THE MOTHER of Ruth Maguire,  who died following after falling from a pier in Carlingford, Co Louth, are calling on the authorities to build a rail to prevent any repeat.

Ruth went missing in the early hours of March 17, during a hen do in the town.

The mother-of-three was part of a group of 32 people from Belfast staying in a house in the village, just a short walk from the pub where they had spent the evening.

Her body was found in Carlingford Lough the next day following a multi-agency search and rescue operation.

It later emerged that she drowned after accidentally falling from the pier in Carlingford, having misjudged the length of the pier.

Ms Maguire’s family are now calling for the local authorities to build a safety rail at the site to prevent any future incidents.

During an inquest into Ruth’s death her mother Geraldine Worthington told the court Louth County Council has a moral responsibility to make the pier at Carlingford a safer place.

Ruth Maguire with sister Rachel Wilkinson (L) and friend Michelle McCabe (R)

According to RTE News, Ms. Worthington said: “Carlingford is a beautiful place, I love going there.

“But it is a place that makes a lot of money by attracting people from all over Ireland to attend hen, stag and birthday parties.

“There are a lot of young people who often drink more alcohol than they should and there are no mummies, daddies or partners there to look after them. The pier is a dangerous place, it is an uneven surface and it is very easy to trip and fall.

“Even when we go to lay flowers at the place where Ruth fell in, family members have tripped and almost fallen in themselves.”

Back in August the of Ruth Maguire paid an emotional tribute to the late mother-of-three on what would have been her wedding day.

Her fiancé Jim and their three children boarded a Carlingford Lough Ferry as part of a special sailing organised for her friends and family to pay tribute to Ruth.