New public toilets to open at Cork park following recent issues 

New public toilets at Fitzgerald's Park in Cork City are expected to be in place by December after a long period of “operational issues”.

The toilets at the park have been closed on multiple occasions in recent months, including for a period this week, but they have now re-opened.

In response to queries from The Echo, a spokesperson for Cork City Council confirmed there had been operational issues with the toilet and said that new units were to be put in place which would include an additional toilet.

“We are having operational issues with the toilet unit at Fitzgerald’s Park recently.

“We have undertaken a tender process to have it replaced with two new units, good news in that there will be one more toilet, but there is a lead in time from order placement to delivery and various site works to be done as well.

“We expect the new units to be in place in December. However, the existing unit is operational again.” 

Last month, one mother who spoke to The Echo, described the recent closures as "unacceptable". 

“During my recent visits to the park, I have witnessed children being forced to relieve themselves behind bushes due to the lack of accessible facilities.

“This is not only a matter of public embarrassment but, more importantly, a serious health and hygiene concern.” 

Social Democrats councillor Padraig Rice welcomed the news of the new toilets, saying it was “unacceptable that the public toilets in Fitzgerald’s Park have been closed a lot over the last few months". 

He added: “Parents bringing their children to the playground need to have a toilet to use. It’s not good enough that it’s out of order so often."

He has called for more accessible public toilets and more money to be allocated to maintain and improve them in the next council budget.

“Most other European cities are capable of providing these essential public services. Paris, for example, has, on average, six public toilets per square km.

“In the 1980s, Cork City had 14 public toilets. Given how much the city has grown, we should have a similar number now—if not more.”

"The public toilets that do exist, like the one on Grand Parade, are poorly advertised. Many locals don’t know they are there – what hope does someone visiting the city have?” 

He added, “There is some suggestion that public toilets have been closed because of drug use. The solution to drug use in public toilets is not to close all the toilets in the city. We should open safe injection rooms instead.”