Harbour group in facilities protest

MEMBERS of an organisation in the country’s most south-westerly village padlocked public toilets yesterday in protest against claims of local authority inaction.

Baltimore Harbour Users’ Association (BHUA) members said they had lost patience with Cork County Council and had decided to take action to highlight their case.

BHUA members padlocked the door of both the ladies and gent’s public toilets, claiming they were dirty and unsafe and presented tourists with a very bad impression of the village.

“If these toilets were in private use they’d be closed down. In Dunmore East there are modern toilets and even shower facilities for visiting yachtsmen. They also have shower facilities in Union Hall,” said BHUA chairman John Kearney.

He said that Baltimore harbour had 19th century facilities and despite countless promises to modernise it nothing had been done.

“We pay our rates so the council can provide proper facilities. I’ve seen toilets in Eastern Europe in better condition,” he said.

BHUA members added that boat trailers had been abandoned in the harbour in a haphazard fashion taking up valuable parking spaces.

“The large number of extraneous cradles and marine gear that has not moved or been used for some years is taking up valuable space and blocking one of the slips,” Mr Kearney said.

He said a lot of this gear had been dumped on county council-owned land.

“Our members would be prepared to move it themselves, but because it’s on council-owned land there’s a question of liability,” he added.

BHUA members claimed they were spending a fortune marketing Baltimore as a tourist destination.

The western pier has large cracks, and locals say it is almost ready to collapse.

Some money has been allocated by Cork County Council to carry out remedial works, but reconstruction is yet to start.

“No money has been spent on doing any work in Baltimore since the harbour was dredged in the late 1980s. We’re not asking for a lot, just basic facilities,” the BHUA chairman said.

The association also wants a slipway developed for the RoRo ferry, which operates services from Baltimore to Cape Clear, Sherkin Island and Hare Island.

A county council spokeswoman said that council officials would be arranging a meeting with BHUA members to discuss the issues they had raised.