A wee problem with tourists squatting behind their Galway shawls

BYâ€Ë†TONYâ€Ë†GALVIN WHILE our cash-strapped government is desperately trying to entice foreign visitors to these shores to spend their money, one member of Galway Co Council is more concerned with them spending pennies au naturel along Galway Bay's scenic shores. Tourist buses are disgorging legions of bladder-challenged visitors, who are turning the jewel of south Galway, lovely Kinvara, into a public urinal. Ladies are even utilising shawls to provide a degree of privacy while relieving themselves along the roadway. This was the shocking claim made this week at a meeting of Galway County Council by Cllr Michael â€ËœStroke' Fahy, who said that it was a disgrace that the village of Kinvara and the environs of historic Dunguaire castle were being treated as a public lavatory.[private] Worse, he protested, this activity was not even provided for in the County Plan. 'If I went to Dunguaire with three or four people in my car and we got out to urinate in public we'd end up in court. This is a public order offence. But elements in the tourism industry, especially Shannon Development, seem to be above the law. We have planning laws and the people of the county have to adhere to them,' he exclaimed. Cllr Fahy explained in elaborate detail to his stunned audience at County Hall on Monday that while the caught-short male visitors could pee 'on the ditches,' the women were making more elaborate arrangements. With his own eyes he had seen them squatting by the roadside while their friends held shawls around them, presumably to preserve their modesty. The â€ËœStroke' spared the blushes of the ladies present and didn't go into further detail, such as whether the offending females wore paint or powder. He didn't even mention a bonnet with a ribbon on it â€â€ his focus was on the Galway shawl. The crux of the matter was the provision of a public toilet in Kinvara. As it happened, Cllr Fahy knew a local man who had told him he was willing to sell the council a site for a new public car park where a â€Ëœconvenience' could be located. Council Director of Services Frank Gilmore said he knew the individual Cllr Fahy was referring to, and he certainly hadn't told the council about this. It was, said Frank Gilmore, all news to him. We can only hope this is not another case of planning behind a shawl of secrecy and that everything, except peeing, that is, will be kept out in the open around Kinvara. Adopting a pragmatic approach, the general consensus in the council chamber was that the â€Ëœshawlies' from Stockholm to Cincinnati could save themselves some embarrassment and do the environment some good by dropping in to one of the many local hostelries and buying themselves a beverage. Then they could avail of the facilities provided in-house and keep their shawls dry, and their modesty intact. [/private]