Cork's public loo policy 'is in the toilet', council told

The council heard how an elderly US tourist soiled himself recently because he couldn't find an available public toilet in the city centre

Councillors agreed a public toilet policy in May 2021 with short, long and medium-term aims. It led to the opening of a new supervised toilet facility next to the city library on Grand Parade. File picture: Larry Cummins

Cork’s public toilet strategy “is in the toilet” and needs a complete overhaul.

That was the claim at a meeting of Cork City Council which heard how an elderly US tourist soiled himself recently because he couldn't find an available public toilet in the city centre.

One city councillor has said city officials seem wedded to the idea of providing ‘Rolls-Royce’ or 'Starship Enterprise'-standard public loos, or nothing at all, and that as a result, the public is losing out on the most basic of conveniences — a network of available, clean and well-kept public toilets across the city.

The comments were made during a debate on the “inadequate” public toilets which were installed by the council in the central plaza area of Marina Park. The loos are managed for the council by the operator of an adjacent café. Their opening hours mirror the opening hours of the café.

Solidarity Cllr Brian McCarthy said what’s being provided there is just inadequate, that a petition calling for improvements was handed to the lord mayor last year, and that more toilets should be provided as part of the multi-million development of the second phase of Marina Park, and the upgrade of the Marina promenade.

He said Marina Park is symptomatic of a bigger problem around the lack of public toilets across the city.

Councillors agreed a public toilet policy in May 2021 with short, long and medium-term aims. It led to the re-opening of public toilets in the North Main Street shopping centre in June 2021, and the opening of a new supervised toilet facility next to the city library on Grand Parade. 

Toilets are also provided at the English Market, Bishopstown Park, Tramore Valley Park, the Regional Park in Ballincollig, and Fitzgerald’s Park. But several councillors said the city still doesn't have enough public loos.

American tourist

Mr McCarthy said: “We used to have more but every time there are issues of anti-social behaviour, they are closed down. How is that the right answer when these are vital for any urban area to have?” 

He recalled how an elderly American tourist soiled himself in the city because he couldn’t find a public toilet in time.  

“I have never felt so ashamed as when I heard what happened to him — that this man’s dignity has been taken from him because we don’t have this most basic service provided to people," he said. 

"Imagine the humiliation he felt and the confusion in trying to find something that should be widely available in this country.” 

'Rolls-Royce standard'

Fine Gael Cllr Des Cahill said city officials seem insistent on providing a "Rolls-Royce standard" public toilet or nothing at all.

“It is probably in the top three items that people get onto me about and it is one that can be easily fixed but the executive are entrenched in their belief that they have to produce the Rolls-Royce of public toilets or none at all. And I think that is the problem," he said.

Social Democrats Cllr Padraig Rice said Paris has an average of six public toilets per square kilometre, and that in the 1980s, Cork had 14 but has far less today.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Sean Martin said most towns and villages in West Cork manage to provide clean, well-kept public toilets.

“They aren’t all Rolls-Royces. The city has to come up with a new model or system that works. I think our public toilet policy is down the toilet. That’s where it is,” he said. 

Independent Cllr Ken O’Flynn said it is vital that if new public loos are provided, they don’t become "makeshift injection centres".