Sligo county councillors have been told that providing public toilet facilities at Drumcliffe is ‘a difficult issue’ and will be ‘considerably expensive.’
The lack of such toilets in an area that is a major tourist attraction for people for around the world was raised at yesterday’s meeting of the county council.
A motion on the need for public toilets at Drumcliffe was put on the agenda for yesterday’s monthly meeting of the council by Sinn Fein Councillor Thomas Healy.
It was supported by all councillors, including Cllrs Donal Gilroy and Marie Casserly.
Cllr Healy recalled Yeats’s famous words ‘I will arise and go’ but he wondered what will people do when they want to arise and go to a public toilet in Drumcliffe.
Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes said they were extremely aware of issues in that location.
But, in view of comments made at the meeting about the lack of facilities there, he asked councillors to be careful of the impression they create.
Director of Services Tom Kilfeather told councillors if they wanted to prioritise the provision of public toilets in Drumcliffe at budget time, they could put it into the capital programme.
He added that the county council had provided excellent car parking there and is making its contribution to the area.’
He explained that providing toilets is going to very expensive and will be challenging from a planning point of view.
And he pointed out that when all that’s done, the toilets have to be maintained and operated properly.
After yesterday’s discussion, Cllr Healy told Ocean FM News what he hopes will happen now.
