Special Report: How one man and his dog started an environmental movement in Cork

On day two of a three-part series Environmental & Sustainability Correspondent Pádraig Hoare discovers how a beach clean has grown into a 300-strong community group with a global outlook

Proinsias Ó Tuama of Ballynamona Clean Coasts walking his dog podge on the beach at Ballynamona, East Cork. Pictures: Dan Linehan

On a gloriously sunny July day, an average person standing on the beaches of East Cork, the cliffs around Ballycotton, the walkways of Youghal or the heights of Ardmore in West Waterford, would think it was as close as you could get to the perfect existence.

But nature in all its wrath is plundering these coastlines, and is now armed with an insidious new ally — human-made climate change.