Scandal: Look at the state of Dublin beaches
Evening Herald
Rubbish left on Burrow beach.
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Wednesday June 03 2009
A clean-up operation of Dublin's beaches was made impossible yesterday because of a ban on employing temporary council staff.
Local authorities say they are not able to maintain beach cleaning services because of a ban on hiring people.
Dirty nappies, discarded towels and broken glass were discarded by careless daytrippers enjoying the sunshine over the weekend.
The admission comes as Environment Minister John Gormley today announces the country's Blue Flag beaches --awarded to the cleanest and best-managed beaches across the country.
Fingal County Council, which manages nine beaches in north Dublin, said a "significant volume" of rubbish was dumped including tin cans, plastic bottles, broken glass bottles, food wrappers and leftovers.
Unsafe
There were no litter staff working over the weekend, and Donabate beach was only cleaned yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, just half of Portmarnock strand could be cleared of rubbish because day trippers arrived from early yesterday morning, meaning it was unsafe to operate its beach-cleaning machine.
The council also warned that it could not afford to provide additional bins on beaches this summer.
"Due to significant financial and staffing constraints the council is not in a position to repeat the practice of previous years of placing bins at regular intervals on the beaches," a spokeswoman said. "We will not be in a position to offer the level of services relating to beach cleaning."
Green Party Councillor for Howth David Healy has condemned Fingal County Council's failure to clean up.
He said: "Fingal County Council must ensure that a basic cleaning service is in place for next weekend, particularly if the spell of good weather continues. Litter wardens should also be in place, as a deterrent."
Local authorities claim they were not prepared for the large volumes of people who flocked to beaches over the weekend, which left daytrippers in the south "sickened" by the condition of some beaches.
Garryvoe and Youghal beaches in Cork were described as being treated "like a dump" by day trippers.
- Jane Last
