no vandalism on clones this year

[twinkle]

as a result of all the bad publicity last year about clones strand been vandalized by bulldozers ,the local farmers could not divert the stream on clones strand this year.the whole stream the length of the beach is heavily polluted as a result .a huge growth of allgea covers the sand and the amount of flies thats just hanging over the whole stretch is like something out of africa.where before this never cost the council or taxpayer anything it has now cost wexford co council thousands of euro to erect signs warning the public of the health hazzard .the streams and polls are no longer suitable for paddling dont mind swimming.this is what happens when people interfere with traditions that have been happening since jesus went to school.the amount of land covered back up stream is acres it has a dept of about 10 inches and has already become stagnant and has allgea growing all over. with the route the farmers usually dig there is none of this, the lands drain quickly and the beach has no stagnant water flowing right down the centre .i feel sad looking at people yesterday having to steer children clear of the health hazzard as this was a place they could play and swim safely. i have photos of this and will try and post them when i get them resized

[Tanglerat]

Stick up the pics, twinkle. I don't understand this.

Where is the pollution comming from? How can stagnant water flow?

And.... any mullet showing up in there yet? Sounds like they'd like that sort of place.

[twinkle]

its going out so slowly and is only 6 to 7 inchs deep in places. the water is not flowing on the land thats flooded. when the tide comes in it stops anything from going out. but on the route its on it cuts the beach in half .never thought i would live to see pollution of this sort on this beach

[Davebouy]

Twinkle, I was down there last weekend for the first time this year. I could not believe the smell, the algae, and the flies. My family have been going down there for years and this is the first time in all those years I have seen what has always been a clean, safe and child friendly beach turned into a cess pit by idiotc bureaucracy. According to the local people I spoke to at the weekend the river is normally turned to increase the flow thus draining the farmland farther inland and also keeping the river moving so that the algae cannot build up and stagnate the beach. They also informed my that the turning of the river was usually organised in late spring by the local's themselves but due to THE BAD PUBLICITY last year this was not allowed this year. As usual the biggest losers in this scenario are the local Farmers due to the continual flooding and the local mobile home owners who cannot let there childern paddle and play near the river which now cuts the beach in half. There is also a downturn in business for the local shop as the people are tending to stay away from the beach due to the newly errected signs ( which of course we are paying for ).
I just hope whoever started this BAD PUBLICITY last year had taken into account what the effects of their actions would be. As far as I can see its the locals / holiday makers who are left to suffer this year and probably for years to come. I doubt whoever started this ball rolling lives locally which is extremely sad as they obviously will not understand the damage they have caused. It's a crying shame.

[jd]

Where was the bad publicity? Local papers? Anyone got a linky?

[Davebouy]

Im not sure where it came from jd. When I asked the locals they seemed to think it came from a fishing website but they could not give me anymore details. I can assure you of one thing, they are really pxxxed off with whoever started it. I can understand why due to the fact that last Saturday was a scorcher in Clone but the beach was practically empty when normally its packed on even a half decent day.

[flyno]

hi lads, i done a google search on this and it came back to our forum. The post topic is 'Beach vandalism on Clone Strand' and it is dated Sunday Jun 27 2010. I dont know how to link this topic to this one, maybe someone else can do it for me...

[donal domeney]

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... 12&t=28922

[twinkle]

have just been talking to my sister who is down there for the summer.some of the kids who were crossing the river on the beach developed a rash on there ankles and have been to the doctors in arklow.3 teenagers out of 5 got this just by walking through the stream and not washing it off. also the annual kids fishing competition which is due to happen on saturday evening might have to be moved to kilgorman .this has been run for the last 15 yrs by my sister and her friends all the kids from the locality attend they had 128 kids last year at a cost of 2 euro each and the prizes are all given by the parents and families in the caravan parks. she said she nearly puked with the smell as she went to see the beach
as i know this area because i was reared there i also know that this is going to get worse later this month when the farms further up the river start there slurrying on the land the first shower of rain and the slurry comes down the river and will lodge itself on to the beach .again this does not happen when the river is rerouted by the farmers because there is a fast flow straight out. i hope to get the two other pictures showing the flooding uploaded today. this originated on this site but was then given to local papers. and polititions.where this was the normal event each year the locals are afraid to touch the river in case of legal repercussions.its a case of people sticking ther nose in to something they really know nothing about.

[flyno]

Maybe this will help, its a story in a Gorey newspaper after it was reported here. http://www.goreyecho.ie/news/mhgbgbcwau/

I think common sense should prevail and the farmers do what they have been doing for years, because it now seems that a health hazard has been created and local tourism is being affected. The reason i am so interested in this is that my wife and daughter are away for 2 weeks this weekend (bulgaria) and i will be going to my mates in courtown for a week ,maybe more, and i would have given this beach a shot. Wife and child goes to the sun and i go fishing.

[Davebouy]

Thanks for the information flyno. I have to agree with Twinkle that people should not stick their OAR in where it is not warranted and should also check the details before stating unsubstantiated facts. As usual it's JOE PUBLIC who suffers.

[Tanglerat]

when the farms further up the river start there slurrying on the land the first shower of rain and the slurry comes down the river and will lodge itself on to the beach

Isn't there a law preventing this from happening? Farmers aren't supposed to spread slurry when rain is forecast.

To be honest, I can see both points of view here.

But, not a nice situation.

[twinkle]

when the farms further up the river start there slurrying on the land the first shower of rain and the slurry comes down the river and will lodge itself on to the beach

Isn't there a law preventing this from happening? Farmers aren't supposed to spread slurry when rain is forecast.

To be honest, I can see both points of view here.

But, not a nice situation.

they dont, but it still makes its way down stream.i think the council should now step in and either reroute the river themselves, or give the locals the permission to do it.i also think that people should be aware of posting things that can have a very negative affect on an area that they dont live, or frequent.i also note that the original author of the post has been noticable by his lack of input .he wasent that slow sending e mails to local councillers last year

[petemc]

I perfectly understand the anger that this may have caused to the local community, tourists etc. However the route of the problem is that the river is polluted. By the sounds of it the algae growing is enteromorpha/ulva and that is sure sign of nutrient enrichment within the body of water. Over use of artificial nitrate fertilizers,disposal of slurry on the land, poor septic tank placement and sewage passing into the catchment area all add to it. A slow moving river in good health will not be full of algae, the water does not have enough nutrients to support it. Unfortunately this is all too common throughout Ireland and really needs to be dealt with at source rather than just 'redirecting'.

[twinkle]

yes to all the above .but this does not stop the stretch on the beach becoming a cess pool. for the whole summer.

[samo]

Has this been sorted out yet? was on the beach a few weeks back and it was stinking there used to be a load of small minnows or stickle backs in the stream as well i didnt see any in it when i was down the last time.