Beach visitors urged to “leave nothing but their footprint”this Bank Holiday weekend
Visitors to Meath beaches are being urged to respect the coastal area and “leave nothing but their footprint” ahead of the Bank Holiday Weekend.
The plea comes as yet another blaze resulted in serious damage to a section of the dunes in Bettystown this week.
While it is not yet known what caused the fire, the area has been plagued with groups of people camping and having barbecues on the beach, an activity that can be a recipe for disaster during hot weather spells.
"I’m waiting for a response from the fire service to find out what the cause was and I’m hoping it was accidental,” said local Cllr Sharon Tolan.
“I believe there was quite a bit of broken glass in the area and perhaps with the heat yesterday that is what caused the fire,” she added.
"Sometimes people smoking cigarettes don;t realise the damage that can be done not extinguishing them properly in this area or having a barbecue.
"We really are asking people to stay out of the dunes as much as possible, it is a really important area and important habitat for wildlife and they are our last form of defence from the sea.
"Leave nothing but your footprint, take your rubbish away, respect the area. We have a beautiful Blue Flag Beach that took us 28 years to achieve, we don’t want to lose it.”
This latest incident follows coastal dwellers in Mornington speaking out recently on how out of control beach parties are threatening the future of the dunes.
Just last month up to 20 tents of revellers pitched up at the seaside village resulting in scorched dunes at Mornington 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 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.
It comes as a new Mornington Tidy Towns Group was officially formed last month to “enhance” the beach and protect the dunes.
Chairperson, Declan Collins previously told how the group is backing the Mornington Dunes Restoration Plan proposed by Meath Co Co and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to restore and protect the dunes.
He added that with recent reports of fires, rubbish and anti-social behaviour at Mornington Beach, it is more important than ever to ensure this does not continue.
“As per the Foreshore Byelaws brought in by Meath Co Co a couple of years ago, it states no caravanning, no camping and no fires so it’s quite clear that there are Foreshore laws that have to complied with but there would be a gap in these rule being implemented,” he added.
“Meath Co Council has now said that their beach ranger will now include Mornington in their patrol area so that will be a big help so we need proper enforcement.”
Greater signage is needed in the area to inform people that the dunes are out of bounds said Declan.
“If they deteriorate to a certain point, it’s very hard to recover them,” he added.
“We need to keep rattling the cage about what’s happening here and get Meath Co Co to recognise how important the dunes are and how important the restoration and enhancement plan is.”
Last month Meath Co Co wrote to sports clubs in the area requesting them not to use the dunes for training as locals had reported an increase in this activity despite past calls for them not to use this area of the beach.
A spokeperson for Meath Fire Service said;
"Drogheda Fire Service was called to a dune fire off Bettystown beach Wednesday at 17:37, they were in attendance approximately 17:51, the call lasted approximately one hour and three minutes with approximately 35 minutes at the incident.
"It didn’t appear to be serious. Louth provide a service to calls in east Meath by agreement with Meath."