Hoax ‘litter-for-money’ scheme highlights a problem which is far from bogus
Participants were aked to present it at the harbour commissioner’s office in Bantry for a reward of €5 per bag of litter.
Living close to heavily polluted beaches, we welcomed this campaign, collected some litter and presented it to the harbour commissioner - only to learn that the campaign was a hoax. Nobody is backing the campaign with his or her name.
These people, hiding in the darkness of anonymity, chose a dodgy way to address a severe problem that is unfortunately not a hoax at all: the coastline (and the waters) of Bantry Bay is in a shameful condition.
We welcome a few dozen guests and business partners from abroad every year. In general, they are enchanted by the beauty of west Cork, but they are shocked when they see the heavily littered strands and beaches.
While the communities have made much effort to keep the streets and squares clean, the coastline deteriorates year after year.
Some of our visitors have harsh reactions to a coastline which ill-befits a premier holiday destination in one of the most prosperous countries in the world. They wonder why, in Ireland, nobody cares about polluted beaches. Some of them decide not to return.
The responsibility for the beaches in Bantry Bay lies with Cork County Council, which may clean the prominent blue flag beaches regularly - but 90% of the rest of the shoreline hasn’t seen a single council worker in the past seven years.
Local people should commit themselves to be more responsible for the beaches, as they have done with the Tidy Towns initiative.
Markus Baeuchle
Ardaturrish Beg
Glengarriff
Co Cork
