Better services for tourists needed now

INFLUX The increase in visitors to Mayo has not been matched by an increased provision of services and facilities to cater for them.

Reaction to last week’s lead story needs to be directed towards council to encourage change

Last week’s lead story in The Mayo News again highlighted how poorly equipped Mayo is to deal with the influx of visitors to the county this summer.
There was, in May, anger from Cllr Paul McNamara about the lack of bins in Achill and the lack of servicing of the bins that were there. Those concerns have been vindicated by a recent poor rating for Keel Beach on the island in a Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report.
It has not just been Achill that has been left short in this way. It has been an issue all over the county. And while it is easy to give out about Mayo County Council, a few salient truths need to be borne in mind.
In particular, as John Healy splendidly articulated in a recent column, their resources are paper thin compared to local authorities throughout Europe. Ireland has one of the most centralised systems of government in the country, which means local authorities have limited funding and have to go cap in hand looking for more money when pressure points like what we are seeing this summer manifest themselves.
We can all complain from time to time, with some justification, about the inefficient use of some council funds, but we cannot ignore that budgets remain a constant constraint.
Indeed, it was somewhat refreshing to see Teresa Durkin, Senior Executive Engineer with the council, tell the July meeting of Ballina Municipal District that the council simply does not have the resources to carry out safety works in the town.
Can we have more honest commentary from council officials like this? Rather than equivocating, if money is an issue, say it. Let the people know that services are being short-changed.

Campervan comments
But back to last week’s lead story.
Some readers took major issue with our report about comments made by a council official, Head of Environment Martin Keating, at a council meeting. Mr Keating had linked the dumping of waste from a campervan in the sea in Mulranny to a deterioration in water quality at the nearby Blue Flag beach, and this was detailed in our lead.
People may not agree with what was said but, if so, that ire should be directed at the council, rather than at The Mayo News or its journalists. We reported faithfully and objectively what had been said at a council meeting. People can agree or disagree with what was said as they see fit, in the same way as they can agree or disagree with comments made in DΡil Éireann or by any other State body.  
For what it is worth, it seems incredible that just one campervan could cause water quality issues, and that this would be highlighted by the council, when a few short miles away in Newport, raw sewage has been pumped into the bay for years, in the absence of a treatment plant for the town.
In defence of Mr Keating’s comments at the meeting, he went on to say that the increase in visitors to the county due to pandemic-related staycationing has not been matched by an increased provision of services and facilities to cater for them.
This brings us back to our overarching point: the lack of sufficient services to cater for large influxes of tourists in the county.
Mayo is majestic and the pandemic has reminded many people throughout the island of the magnificent beauty here.
However, while the county may seem big enough to cater for large volumes of visitors, this is only the case if we have the services and facilities to cater for tourists – whether they are coming by bike, car or caravan, carrying a tent or driving a campervan.