'Ridiculous' lack of public toilets and bus shelters in North Cork town leaving elderly out in the cold

Senior county council officials are to ask businesses in a North Cork town to accommodate people needing to spend a penny if its public toilets break down again.

Meanwhile, elderly and disabled people in the same town are being put at further disadvantage as there are still no bus shelters there, despite them being erected in nearby rural areas.

These “third world” problems in Charleville were highlighted at a meeting of the Kanturk/Mallow municipal district committee by the town’s local councillors, Fine Gael’s Aileen Browne and Fianna Fáil’s Ian Doyle.

Ms Browne said the men’s and women’s public toilet block at the top of Broad St, adjacent to Main St, had been out of action for a considerable length of time last year due to a plumbing difficulty and ESB supply issues.

Ms Browne said that under urban regeneration funding new toilets will be built at the town plaza, “but they are some years away from construction.”

She asked officials if they could bring in portable facilities if the toilets become unusable again but was told this was cost prohibitive.

Municipal district officer Claire Barr said the council would ask local businesses if they could help out. 

Bus Shelters

Meanwhile, Mr Doyle asked when proper bus shelters are to be built in the town.

He was unable to get timelines for their construction and said this has now become a matter of urgency and needs addressing speedily.

Ms Browne said there are on average 300 buses passing through the town every week, including the public services of Expressway and Local Rural Links operating from both Cork and Limerick.

Both she and Mr Doyle said there is “an amount of elderly and disabled people” using these services and they have nowhere to shelter in the winter weather. They said this was completely unacceptable.

Ms Browne also pointed out to council officials that the St Joseph’s Foundation in the town caters for a huge number of people with special needs.

She said in some cases helpers take them on buses to get them familiar with the use of public transport and it is “ridiculous” that these people should be left out in the cold and rain waiting for buses because there are no shelters.

“My own mother was recently waiting in the cold for around 45 minutes for a bus that didn’t turn up. In rural areas there are some lovely bus shelters and people can’t understand while there are none in a big town like Charleville,” Ms Browne added.