ENFORCEMENT is essential for bye-laws on camping and overnight parking in East Clare.
A special meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District saw elected members approve draft Inis Cealtra (Holy Island) and Knockaphort Pier by-laws which will now go for public consultation.
Officials in the local authority are hopeful the by-laws may be enforced from the beginning of July.
Behaviour deemed to be not so Holy on Inis Cealtra including the lighting of fires, illegal camping and littering plus unauthorised parking at Mountshannon Harbour led to the drafting of by-laws.
Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) proposed the by-laws go forward for public consultation and urged the Council to consider introducing similar measures in Two Mile Gate, Ballycuggeran and Tober Murra.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Conor Ryan (FG) stated, “I welcome this, let’s see where it goes and where further by-laws can be introduced on the Lough Derg coast line”.
“This is great but enforcement is the thing,” stressed Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe MD, Cllr Pat Burke (FG).
Director of Services for Tourism Development, Siobhán McNulty commented, “We hear you on request for other areas, this is from a particular incident last year”. She added, We will have an enforcement model that we can apply, will look at existing areas and what can be done. This isn’t one and done, we will work with you”.
“Let’s hope there will be peace and quiet on Holy Island,” observed Cllr Burke to which McNulty replied, “Well not too peaceful or quiet from a tourism perspective”. Cllr O’Brien chirped in to reference Uisce Éireann’s plans to drain water from East Clare, “Hopefully we’ll have a River Shannon when Irish Water are done”.
