'Out of control beach parties are destroying the dunes'

Coastal dwellers in Mornington say out of control beach parties are threatening the future of the dunes.

Last weekend up to 20 tents of revellers pitched up at the seaside village resulting in scorched dunes strewn with litter and frightened wildlife.

Beach visitors who over stayed their welcome lit fires, set off fireworks and left huge amounts of rubbish behind, that's according to local resident Eimear Smith who said residents have had enough.

"I just think if this is going on and nothing is being done about it, we'll have no dunes left, it is just so distressing to see it. I'm just so angry," she said.

"My husband would regularly go for runs on the beach on Sunday mornings and he says it is just shocking, you are dodging piles of rubbish," added Eimear.

"People are even using the dunes as a toilet facility, it is disgusting.

"They are leaving their rubbish, barbeques, cans and bottles.

"This is a regular occurrence but I have never seen it as bad as this."

Eimear describes what she witnessed last weekend:

"We went for a walk on Saturday evening a little later than we'd usually be out and we as we were coming towards the Mornington end of the beach near the dunes around 10pm, there were large groups of people just basically having parties," said the concerned resident.

"There were fires lit at certain points all over the place probably for barbeques," she added.

"As we were about to make our way further down towards the car, towards the tower end, they started letting off fire works. You could see birds flying away in distress, it was awful.

"You come to expect things like this on the beach during the summer months but this is the worst that I have seen

"The tidy towns group out here are, they are planting marram grass and trying to do so much to conserve the area.

"We just want to try to protect the beach."

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan said emergency measures need to be put in place to save the dunes.

"Despite the signage there, people seem to be totally unaware that this is a special area of conservation," said Tolan.

"We had in excess of 20 tents there last weekend camping overnight for a couple of nights, there are no no public toilet facilities and no camping facilities at all so the place is left in a pretty disgusting state," she added.

"I have raised the issue at the highest level with the chief executive of Meath Co Co and we are working with National Parks and Wildlife on a conservational management plan but it is taking an inordinate amount of time and all the while the dunes continue to be destroyed.

"There is an awful lot of damage taking place there and if it goes so far they won't be repairable.

"We want to protect the dunes for future generations. They are a natural protection from flooding which we are always aware of in this area particularly. The council are working on it but we do need some kind of emergency measures put in place.

"We need a greater Garda presence and a greater litter warden presence in that area also."

A Garda spokesperson said:

"Gardaí were in attendance on Mornington Beach in Drogheda, Co Meath on Saturday, 22nd of June 2024.

"No offences were reported to An Garda Síochána."