Shower facilities to be turned off at some Cork beaches in bid to conserve water

Public shower facilities at West Cork beaches are set to be turned off in order to save water council officials have confirmed.

Currently Inchydoney Beach near Clonakilty and The Warren beach near Rosscarbery have public showers but both are set to be switched off on the advice of Irish Water as the current “near drought” conditions continue.

The issue of showers at Cork beaches was raised by independent councillor Paul Hayes at the recent meeting of the Council’s Western Division.

Cllr Hayes said: “We are obviously all enjoying the gorgeous weather at the minute. Some beaches, maybe the bigger beaches have better facilities, like shower facilities, things like that. 

"It’s a simple thing I think that could be included in other beaches around the place, that people could wash the sand off themselves, their equipment, surfboards whatever before hopping back into the car. 

"Are there any plans within the council to improve the facilities like that for local beaches?” 

Cllr Hayes said that on a recent visit to Kerry he had noticed that many beaches there had excellent shower facilities but few beaches in Cork had similar facilities.

He added: “It would be a simple thing to just tap into a mains that is already in place. 

"So many people are using our beaches for various leisure activities and I think this would be something that a lot of people would make use of.” 

Despite Cllr Hayes call for more showers at beaches, council officials confirmed that those currently operating at the Warren and Inchydoney will be turned off. 

“We have advice from Irish Water to reduce the water consumption so we are looking at turning those off for the time being under the current climate,” said Executive Officer MacDara O’Hici.

Hot showers were installed at Inchydoney in 2018 when the existing toilet block was refurbished at a cost of €86,000.

Irish Water have warned that current low water levels could lead to supply restrictions in several areas in West Cork with nighttime restrictions already introduced in Dunmanway and particular pressure also being experienced in Clonakilty.

Regional Operations Lead Niall O’Riordan said: “West Cork is a beautiful and busy place at the best of times, but in the summer it is even busier. Now, we are asking the community of Clonakilty specifically to be mindful of their usage in order to help avoid the need to introduce water restrictions there. Many people will be outdoors a lot more, watering the garden or washing cars etc. We are just asking people to be sensible about how they use their water so that we have enough for everyone to use during the daytime and that the businesses of Clonakilty can continue to operate as normal.”