Councillors fear cuts to outdoor council staff could damage Cobh tourism

Councillors in Cobh, Co Cork are concerned litter bins will overflow and rubbish will accumulate on the streets when around 100 cruise liners are due to dock there next year.

It’s become the flagship destination for visits from cruise liners and isn’t far off capturing the national Tidy Towns title. Yet the former could be seriously damaged, and the latter scuppered due to a planned reduction in the number of council workers who keep Cobh, Co Cork looking its best.

Fears have been expressed that the country’s premier cruise liner terminal will not look very appealing to visitors if proposed cuts to council staff covering the area aren't reversed.

Councillors are concerned litter bins will overflow and rubbish will accumulate on the streets when around 100 cruise liners are due to dock there next year.

Concerns have also been raised that a reduction in council ‘outdoor staff’ numbers will impact on Cobh winning the national tidy towns award, which it's come close to doing in the last few years.

Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen told a meeting of the Cobh Municipal District Council that it's to lose four outdoor workers because some of its jurisdiction — around Glanmire — had been taken over by the city council, and two more are due to retire shortly.

He said the municipal district is huge and can’t afford the loss of any workers.

Urgent meeting sought

Mr Rasmussen won unanimous support from colleagues when he said the municipal district council “would resist any efforts to reduce our outdoor staff” and they seek an urgent meeting with the council’s director of services to discuss the issue.

He said assurances were given at the recent full County Council budget meeting that additional outdoor staff were to be employed across the whole county.

“During the budget meeting we were told we were taking on more people and there was a suggestion the area (Cobh) might get seasonal staff allocated during the busiest time of the year,” Mr Rasmussen said.

Fine Gael councillor Sinead Sheppard said she’d heard engineers earlier in the municipal district meeting say repeatedly they're having difficulties getting jobs done because of the lack of outdoor workers.

Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan said “it’s a bit farcical” to have adopted a budget to increase rates when there will be a decrease in council staff in the area.

“When you have 5,000 people coming off a cruise ship there are going to be huge implications,” she said.