Sir, - You always know a politician is trying to defend the indefensible when he indignantly refutes an allegation that was never made. It seems that council officials have learned the same trick. In your edition of August 6th an unnamed Cork County Council official is quoted, denying the ludicrous suggestion that tourists had been banned from Barley Cove Beach. He claims I had made this wrong accusation in your letters page. My letter was clear that I was not visiting Barley Cove Beach as a tourist. My complaint was that the banning of clamping and caravaning meant that there was nobody there early in the day and far fewer than normal in the afternoon. I contend that this is a waste of a national resource. It was a petty act motivated, I suspect, by a desire to discourage less wealthy tourists.
The official claims that the ban was imposed because there were no proper sanitary facilities. Surely the answer to that problem was simply to provide these facilities. In fact the council has now provided portaloos on the site.
There is a far larger congregation of camps and caravans only half-a-mile away adjacent to a beach called White Strand. This site is run by a local businessman. The council don't seem to see this site as a threat to the environment. Isn't it a sensitive eco-system that is so understanding to the needs of local business? I will pass over in silence the irony of being lectured on the environment by the council that presided over Whiddy Island and Ringaskiddy.
Tourism is the one industry that can survive without subsidy in remote places like West Cork. If and when the EU gravy train grinds to a halt, Cork County Council might wish for all the tourists it can attract to West Cork, even the humble backpackers and their pesky tents. - Yours, etc.,
Tim O'Halloran, Ferndale Road, Dublin 11.