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Originally uploaded by Speedie1.
Ireland is famous for its scenery. It the country*s primary asset in promoting Tourism, our most important industry since the 1950s.
And there is no more pictureseque location in the country than Galway Bay, celebrated in song and verse for centuries.
But sadly, the massive built development that has been taking place in our country for the last decade is destroying our God-given natural beauty. We are ‘killing the goose that lays the golden egg’.
I would be the first to admit that the government-imposed plastic bag levy and Galway City Council’s introduction of a radical pro-recycling waste management domestic waste system have been positive eco-friendly initiatives. But the overall picture is depressing. Our lakes are being polluted with fertilsers; wetlands and bogs are being drained; hedgrows (Ireland’s tropical rain forests) are being ripped up; our fields are being covered over with tarmacaden and houses & our air is being filled with toxic pollutants.
Look at the attached pictures of Galway Bay. The location is Renville near the holiday village that I manage. It must be the most litter-strewn seashore in Ireland and it is permanently covered by appalling levels of rubbish. This is because the direction of the ocean’s currents leads to the depositing of all sorts of waste material from the city and environs at this particular shoreline.
Renville itself is now host to a cluster of quality leisure activities - golf club, sailing club, holiday homes, hotel , a fine public park and the location for the new Marine Institute.
But in spite of months of personally lobbying the county council, I have had little success in solving the ongoing waste crisis.
I regularly help in voluntary cleaning actions. But the task is too large for a small number of individuals to solve. It is the council’s responsibility to provide at least a weekly cleaning service in this popular leisure destination. However, due to a government embargo on local authorities staff recruitment, there are not the human resources available to implement such a policy. The local Community Warden tries his best but has a very wide geographical brief. It took me two months of persistent lobbying to get a council cleaning crew out last June. But the rubbish collected was only the tip of the iceberg and was left on site for four days beside a Council ‘No Dumping’ Sign before it was collected! Part of the shore wall had previously being broken down to allow equipment onto the seashore. But an unsightly mess left behind was never repaired.
Furthermore, a large derelict boat was removed from the sailing club area last year and dumped in front of the park. In spite of the best efforts of the Community Warden, the craft is still there despoiling this beautiful public amenity.
The person that owns it is a wealthy millonaire living locally! The personification of selfishness.
Over the last few months, I have being forced to cancel field trips by schools to the seashore because of this appalling waste vista. Something needs to be done soon to preserve this unique heritage and natural environmental area before it is too late.
This week, I wrote an article on the topic for a local newspaper. Hopefully this may embarass the council into action
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