Heavily littered beach sparks outrage

WHILE exceptional numbers of people travelled to Northside beaches over the weekend of May 26/27, the amount of litter left at some of them took the shine off the fine weather.

A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council said that while all of its beaches had an increased level of litter after visitors left, the situation was particularly bad at Portmarnock beach on the Saturday and Sunday.

“Normally our operations crew would clear litter from several beaches after a busy day in approximately four hours,

? she told Northside People.

“However, it took a crew of eight council staff six hours to clear four truckloads of litter from Portmarnock on Sunday morning (May 27).

“A significant portion of the litter was alcohol related including cans, bottles and cardboard packaging.

“Staff had to walk the entire beach with litter pickers to ensure that all litter was removed. This contributed to the significant length of time it took to clean the beach.

?

The spokeswoman said the costs for the clean up included bringing additional staff in to work overtime to clean the beach, after which the four truckloads of litter were transported back to the council depot, compacted into a skip and then transported to a waste disposal facility.

“This also incurred charges by weight for the compacted litter,

? she stated.

“Our beaches are for everyone to respect and enjoy. Drinking on beaches is forbidden under Fingal County Council Beach Bye-Laws and the behaviour of beach visitors who ignore the bye-laws and drink to excess makes it a very unpleasant and sometimes threatening experience for other people, especially families, to visit the beach.

“Gardai have been confiscating large quantities of alcohol from beach visitors at some Fingal beaches and this has been effective in reducing anti-social behaviour.

?

The spokeswoman said the council works closely with local gardai at all of its beaches to help tackle the problems that can arise when large numbers of people visit them.

“Anyone visiting Fingal beaches, especially at this busy time, is requested not to bring alcohol to the beach, to respect other people using the beach and to take their litter with them when they leave,

? she added.

“By taking away litter, or disposing of it carefully in the bins provided, the public help to reduce the cost to the council to keep our beaches clean.

?

Dublin North East TD Terence Flanagan (FG) said he was

“disgusted

? at the amount of rubbish that was left on Portmarnock beach following the recent good weather.

“It is understandable that people want to spend time at the beach during periods of good weather, but I would urge people to respect the local area and ensure that any rubbish is properly disposed of at the end of the day,

? he stated.

“Portmarnock is a blue flag beach and it is very popular with people of all ages. I am concerned that people were drinking on the beach on Saturday (May 27) in front of families and children that were enjoying the sun.

?

Deputy Flanagan said that thanks largely to the dedication and hard work of the Portmarnock Beach Committee, the beach is renowned for being clean.

“It is so disheartening for those who maintain the beach to see the huge amount of litter, the majority of which was alcohol-related,

? he added.