Think Tramore. What springs to mind? The Metal Man, The Prom, The Doneraile, the sand hills, the Back Strand, the Racecourse, The Guillamene – the list goes on.
Sadly, due as much to the ongoing reality as it does to journalistic cynicism, the litter problem and lack of public toilet provision are also regular topics of discussion. It’s a point which frustrates Tramore Town Councillor Tom Raine.
“I heard that one article about litter on the beach in Tramore made it all the way into the pages of a Cork newspaper and that’s not what we need,” said Cllr Raine, the town’s new Deputy Mayor.
“More needs to be done, there’s no getting away from that. I’m in the process of drafting up a letter to Minister John Gormley (Environment) and Minister Mary Hanafin (Tourism) to ask for money from central government.
“We’ve almost had to break the bank just as it is just to do the litter pick around Tramore, so we need more money. Now I’m not talking about huge, vast sums – but I believe that there is money in central government that can be provided to assist us.”
Blaming your minority group of choice for the litter problem on the beach is a futile exercise, Cllr Raine added, since it’s everyone’s problem. It’s not as if finger pointing, strongly worded letters or texts to local radio alone will haul every buried nappy from the sands of the Strand.
“The perception that the Town Council doesn’t care about the litter problem is completely false,” he continued. “Every Councillor cares deeply about how our town looks like given that our main business is tourism.
“The problem is that everything costs money, and we need more money to get this problem sorted – and the only way we’re going to get it is from central government.”
Town Councils would be able to achieve more were its financial coffers more swollen, and surely the less governing we have from Dublin would be a good thing for the country as a whole.
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