Raw sewage flowing out of Rossnowlagh portaloos highlights need for toilets

A back-up of sewage spilling from portaloos at Rossnowlagh has led to renewed calls for the development of permanent toilets.

It is believed that sand in the sewerage system led to the overflow last weekend.

Cllr Barry Sweeny (FG) raised the matter at the April meeting of Donegal MD on Tuesday.

“Extreme dissatisfaction was expressed to me about maintenance of portaloos,” he said.

“We need to seriously get an improvement on the maintenance of portaloos. I know it doesn’t take much to make a mess of them and they are maintained a few times a week but this needs to be addressed.”

He acknowledged that Cllr Michael McMahon (SF) had brought a motion calling for permanent public toilets for Rossnowlagh at a recent MD meeting.

Cllr McMahon said he had visited the site of the recent sewage overflow.

He said: “It was a mess over the weekend. The residents were very upset.

“I looked at the portaloos twice over the weekend. They are not fit for purpose and that is the bottom line.”

He explained that the sewer was blocked with sand, and this had led to the portaloos backing up.”

“This is totally unacceptable over the Easter week that there is raw sewage flowing out of it.”

Cllr Micheál Naughton (FF) questioned if the long term cost of providing portaloos was merited. He also asked for clarification on the contract with Gortlee, the portaloo provider.

“How often are they supposed to be cleaned?” he asked.

“And we have to look at the bigger picture of value for money. How much is it costing per year? That would go a long way towards getting permanent toilets.”