Cork activist launches fundraiser for beach cleaning necessities

A Corkman has set up a new fundraising campaign to clean up our coastlines and beaches, with all proceeds going to cover the costs of equipment and insurance.

Proinsias Ó Tuama is organising the gofundme drive on behalf of Clean Coasts Ballynamona and The Sea and Land Trust.

“Simply put, we beach clean, help biodiversity and provide environmental education, particularly to children in primary and secondary schools,” said Mr Ó Tuama. “We manage beaches on almost 80km, or three per cent of the total Irish Coastline, for marine litter and 34 acres for nature. In the last three years alone, we have helped implement biodiversity actions on over 600 acres. This we do all free of charge.” 

Mr Ó Tuama said one of the main insurance costs is for a new boat the group has purchased which is coming next year.

“We’ve just put a €20,000 deposit on it this week. We have 300 regular volunteers depending on what part of the coast we go to. If we said we’d do a beach clean in Garryvoe, we might get between 20 and 40 people turning up,” he said.

Clean Coasts Ballynamona uses Eventbrite to organise clean-ups, along with social media and word of mouth. “If we go to Ballygrennan, we tell the Postman there,” he said.

Clean Coasts Ballynamona started in 2015, collecting 12 tonnes from that beach in 12 months. Since March, they have taken out over four tonnes at Blackrock Castle, including micro-plastics, Styrofoam beads, and bottles swept in by the tide. 2023 will see the organisation grow as it introduces the new boat and scales up its capacity.

“The new boat will enable us to conduct litter surveys and seabird surveys,” said Mr Ó Tuama.

“There is a huge problem with Cork harbour. There are pinch points in the harbour where currents will be washing things up. The boat will allow us to go to festivals across the east Coast. We will be developing the knowledge locally and it will be uploaded, so it will be open source.” 

The group saves the County Councils a huge amount each year. “If we look at the manhours we put in this year alone, we put in almost 3,000 hours.” 

The Council granted them €4,000 with the help of Green Party Councillor Liam Quaide, Sinn Féin Councillor Danielle Twomey and Fianna Fáil Councillor Ann Marie Ahern.

The group brought out 500 children in May, educating them in environmentalism and gave them free lunches, and have engaged with schools such as Christ King Secondary School, St Colman’s and others.

“Since we started we’ve brought over 2,000 kids beach cleaning with us,” said Mr Ó Tuama.

“Essentially, this equipment and boat will allow the impact and reach of our work and actions to be greatly enhanced, whether for access to inaccessible coastal areas or support much-needed citizen science programmes.

“This equipment will assist us in tackling and solving the issues affecting our coast locally and nationally. We hope that this project will help other coastal communities around Ireland.” The tax and insurance fall due for two of their main pieces of machinery in January, the Gator and the Tractor. 

“The Gator helps us to remove the tonnes of rubbish that we collect off the beaches and the Tractor helps us manage our meadows for biodiversity. The insurance and tax is now due on our 4x4. This is essential to our operations as it pulls our trailers, the equipment, and the tonnes of rubbish we collect,” he said. 

Donations can be made online at gofundme.com