A PARISH priest who goes for an early morning swim at Myrtleville Beach at 5am most days usually ends up filling up a bucket full of rubbish before he takes a dip in the cold waters.
Fr Pat Stevenson, parish priest in Crosshaven, can be regularly seen with his litter picker, bucket and dry robe at the popular beach.
‘It’s become such a throwaway culture. I find bath towels left behind, while I’m always finding nappies there every single day. I picked up three nappies on Saturday morning and two on Sunday and it’s just shocking,’ Fr Pat said.
‘I hadn’t gone swimming in the sea in Ireland for about 17 years and it was only during the lockdown that I got back into it once we were allowed go out within the 5km. I’ve become immune to the cold now!’
Despite being on crutches at the moment following a sprained ankle, it hasn’t deterred him from getting into the sea for about 20 minutes daily as he leaves his crutches at the edge of the shore just in case he gets into difficulty.
‘I usually pick up the rubbish before my swim and it’s amazing how much rubbish is left behind by people. But it’s not just me who picks the rubbish up, other people are also doing their bit.’ He said it’s a great time of the day to take to the water and said that by 6am there could be up to 20 swimmers heading for an early morning dip.
‘Last Sunday morning at around 5.25am two cars of families turned up at the beach, they played football for a bit and then all the adults and children went into the water for a swim. They were gone again at 6am and that was a lovely sight to see a whole family enjoying the beach so early in the morning.
‘Some of the children also helped me collect rubbish too,’ he said.
