PUBLIC toilets are needed on Dursey and Sherkin islands urgently, as some visitors are leaving their own ‘waste’ behind because of a lack of options, a meeting of Cork County Council was told this week.
A West Cork councillor said that visitors to Sherkin this summer had left faeces and toilet rolls behind ditches, the pier shelter, and parked cars.
Meanwhile, tourists visiting Dursey Island are dismayed to find that there is no public toilet anywhere on the island.
Cllr Isobel Towse (SD), a Sherkin native, raised the motion at last week’s meeting of the West Cork Municipal District and said the lack of a public toilet is putting people off visiting the pretty island. She said the population on Dursey can almost double during the peak summer months, and so there are health and environmental risks as a result of having no public toilets there.
She described how there were 90 children and parents on Sherkin during the Swim Safety Week in August, with no toilet facilities available. ‘By the end of the week, there were faeces and toilet roll behind numerous ditches, at the pier shelter and behind many parked cars in the vicinity of the pier,’ said Cllr Towse.
She said that throughout the summer used toilet paper was being found around Silver Strand beach.
Silver Strand, on Sherkin Island. (Photo: Shutterstock)
She called on the Council to commit to resolving this issue before next summer and to meet with the residents about it. She said portaloos at the very least facilities that should be in place for Swim Week next year.
Cllr Towse also highlighted the fact that a company based in Enniskeane called DryLoos make and install waterless toilets.
‘This company have installed these sustainable, cost-effective toilets in Farran Woods and also in a pre-school in Cork which I believe was HSE-approved. This could be an option for Sherkin. The company told me some other local authorities have 30 of these toilets installed in towns, islands, and beaches,’ Cllr Towse added.
She said that a marine-grade wheelchair accessible unit from DryLoos costs about €15,000 ex vat to install, and €10,000 for each additional unit added.
‘Compared to the €40,000 cost per year for super loos, I think it’s a bargain and it would also keep the money in the local economy because they are a local business,’ she pointed out.
Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) supported her motion and said that a previous arrangement with the hotel owners on Sherkin to allow people use their facilities is no longer in place, because the hotel is currently housing Ukrainian families.
‘We should approach them again until we get a toilet there, and even offer a rates reduction maybe,’ he said, but also pointed out issues about who would maintain any proposed toilets due to the lack of outdoor staff.
Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) said ‘faeces on footpaths’ is not a good look and called on the Council to come up with a better solution, while Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) agreed that the local authority can do more and welcomed recent advertisements for outdoor staff by Cork County Council.
Assistant staff officer Martina O’Driscoll said they have been looking at the issue on Sherkin island and are hoping to put something in place, subject to available funding. She said they would take on board Cllr Towse’s suggestion about the dry loos.
Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) asked if Dursey Island could also be included in the motion, due to the fact that there is no public toilet on the island, which is visited by thousands of tourists every summer.
‘It gives a bad vibe to people who have had a great day on the island and travelling on the new cable car. It would be great to find a solution to this,’ said Cllr Harrington, who added that sometimes the cable car operators ‘get it in the neck’ from parents with small children because there are no toilets there.
He also raised a motion at the same meeting seeking an update on the renovation of the public toilets in Allihies. He pointed out that €50,000 was granted in 2019, but no renovation work started. He asked if the work could be completed over the winter period, as the village is a busy spot for tourism.
Area engineer Ruth O’Brien said that money has been ringfenced and engineers will carry out a site visit and see what is needed and what can be done within the budget.
