Shared responsibility for beach users over litter
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Wednesday July 22 2009
AT the first full agenda meeting of the new council, councillors lined up to have their say on the controversial litter crisis that blighted Fingal beaches over the June bank holiday weekend. There were three motions on the floor asking for explanations for the littering problems on the county's beaches, and on Portmarnock beach in particular.
Cllr Eoghan O'Brien (FF) said that while the local authority could have handled the situation a lot better, the issue of personal responsibility had got lost in the debate.
He said that users of the beach shared a responsibility to keep it clean. He suggested that in peak times, that larger wheelie-bins could be temporarily positioned on the beach to tackle the upsurge in litter generated by larger crowds.
Cllr Peter Coyle (Lab) said the council had to take more notice of weather predictions in its planning and said the increased use of the beach on the June bank holiday could have been easily foreseen.
Cllr Cian O'Callaghan (Lab) said this was a 'critical issue' locally and affected local residents and businesses who relied on the beach to bring visitors to Portmarnock. He commended the local community for their help in the clean-up, and was joined in that by county manager, David O'Connor, who put on record his gratitude for the help of communities living close to beaches all along the county's coast for their help in maintaining and cleaning them. Cllr May McKeon (NP) said the publicity generated by the litter problems on Fingal's beaches had 'brought shame' on the county while Cllr Joan Maher (FG) called for greater enforcement of existing litter laws.
Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab) said that the fact that toilets were not open on the same weekend was an important issue that was being forgotten and got assurances from the county manager that issue was being addressed.
Cllr Anne Devitt (FG) said that people needed to take rubbish home if they could not dispose of it properly and asked that signs be erected reminding people of the litter laws.
Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Ciaran Byrne (Lab), said it was 'weak' for the council to suggest that if people did not litter, there would be no problem and said the council needed to do what it could to address the problem.
- John MANNING
