Donegal County Council are recruiting for the 2026 Beach Lifeguard Season

Donegal County Council are looking to bring in new beach lifeguards for the summer season. 

A Lifeguard is someone who has been trained to provide supervision of activities at public bathing areas to prevent minor and major incidents, including drowning incidents. Trained to provide emergency rescue service in the case of incidents, and how to render First Aid when necessary, ranging from minor incidents to major incidents.

Lifeguards must be responsible, physically fit, strong swimmers, mature, observant and committed to the role, also in their communication skills, interpersonal skills, rescue skills, first aid and CPR skills and the use of a wide variety of rescue equipment. 

Finally, they have a great knowledge and understanding of their local areas and sea, knowledge of water safety, their legal responsibilities, lines of communication within the organisation, how to prevent incidents and knowledge of how the local weather may affect their beach and the safety of its users.

READ NEXT: Calls made for Bord Bia Chairperson’s removal at Donegal MD meeting

A typical day for our Lifeguards would begin with first checking on the conditions at their beach, setting up their patrol zones and ensuring that the correct flags are flown. Red and Yellow flag meaning Lifeguards are on duty and it is safe to swim, or Red flag meaning Lifeguards are on duty, however, it is unsafe to enter the bathing area. They will also alert the supervisor and the Coastguard that they have started their shift. 

Next, the Lifeguards will carry out a Beach inspection, which ensures that the area where the public will be is clean and safe for use. Any rubbish or hazards will be cleared away. They will also carry out a check on their equipment to ensure that it is in correct working order and that their first aid stocks are adequate. 

From here on, they will engage with the public via patrols both on land and in water to provide advice on tides, facilities and weather/water conditions. Also informing them of any by-laws and that they comply with them. If the beaches are quite then the Lifeguards will engage in training to make sure that their skill set is kept sharp. 

Lifeguards maintain the beaches to the Blue Flag standard, and any First Aid or Rescue must also be reported and documented in both digital and written formats. 

Once the shift has finished, the Lifeguards will make sure that the rescue kit is stored back ready for the following day, flags are lowered, and the Coastguard and supervisor are notified that the Lifeguard Station has gone off duty for the evening.

“Last season, our Lifeguards did a stellar job of being proactive and reducing the need for rescues,” Donegal County Council said. “However, there were a total of four incidents where the Lifeguards needed to carry out rescues. In all incidents, the training provided to the Lifeguards enabled them to react quickly and take control of the situations. Working as a team, the Lifeguards attended to the casualties while also reassuring any family members, keeping them calm while also making sure that the correct emergency services had been contacted, and ensured all relevant information and location were passed on, allowing the emergency services to respond promptly. 

“Thanks to the Lifeguards’ quick actions, all incidents were managed correctly, and minor incidents were prevented from escalating into major ones.”

Donegal County Council are currently recruiting for the 2026 Beach Lifeguard Season. Applications must be submitted before midday on Monday, February 23 2026.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme