The Team That Keeps Fountainstown Clean
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Ask any child/teenager what they get up to while on their summer holidays in Fountainstown and their list of activities will more than likely include swimming, kayaking, body-boarding and surfing, fishing for mackerel off the rocks, playing tennis, football and pitch & putt in The Club, eating ice cream from Angela’s shop and hanging out/catching up with friends. Ask a particular group of children from Fountainstown Beach Park (Greenacres) that very same question and you’ll be given a similar list of activities, with an additional activity that you would not expect to be included on a child’s/teenagers summer holiday schedule. |
Last summer, while enjoying a sunny day on the back beach,
Lydia Walsh, Dean O’Leary, Claire Walsh, Natasha O’Leary and Lauren O’Sullivan
(all Fountainstown
Beach Park
residents) asked why so many people who visit Fountainstown beach leave their
rubbish behind them, creating a terrible mess in the area. Instead of trying to
explain these people’s selfish actions, Rita O’Leary asked them what they
could do to address this litter problem. “We
could clean the place up ourselves!!!” was their response.
And that’s exactly what this amazing group of children did. That evening, when all the day trippers had left Fountainstown, Lydia, Dean, Claire, Natasha, Lauren and Rita walked from the Ferry Point to the Front Beach, picking up all the rubbish they came across. Now, if they had only done this once, you’d applaud them for the effort made to tidy the place up. But we are obviously not talking about an ordinary group of people here because, since that first night’s clean up, this extraordinary group have continued to pick up rubbish in the Fountainstown area EVERY EVENING, DURING THE SUMMER SEASON, FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS!!!! And what a job they have done!! If you were to walk around Fountainstown any evening after 8pm, you would struggle to find a single piece of litter anywhere in the area. “Without a doubt, the cleanest beach in Cork” was how one lady visiting Fountainstown Beach recently described the area.
This group have picked up so much rubbish that Fountainstown Beach Park owner, Peter West, has had to get a large industrial sized bin from the council to hold this rubbish. On many occasions, they filled so many rubbish bags that they had to call on Una Hegarty, Sean Hegarty (RIP) or Lucy O’Leary to come and help transport the rubbish collected back to the caravan park. Since they started last summer, Rita, Natasha, Lydia, Claire, Lauren and Dean have collected ALMOST 600 BAGS OF RUBBISH!!!! Now, 600 bags of rubbish is a huge amount for anyone to pick up. For a group of children, aged between 11 and 16 (along with Rita who wouldn’t divulge her age!!!), to pick up this amount of rubbish, while on their summer holidays, is an outstanding feat.
The Fountainstown community are so lucky and even more so grateful to have a group of summer residents that have selflessly given up so much of their holiday time to make the Fountainstown area look as good as it does today. Numerous posts have been left on the Fountainstown Beach Facebook page, all thanking Rita and her gang for everything they’ve been doing for the area. “Fountainstown People of the Year” is a title many locals suggest this group deserve to be awarded.
“Heroes” was how one Fountainstown resident recently described this very special group. “SUPER-HEROES” are what they are.
And that’s exactly what this amazing group of children did. That evening, when all the day trippers had left Fountainstown, Lydia, Dean, Claire, Natasha, Lauren and Rita walked from the Ferry Point to the Front Beach, picking up all the rubbish they came across. Now, if they had only done this once, you’d applaud them for the effort made to tidy the place up. But we are obviously not talking about an ordinary group of people here because, since that first night’s clean up, this extraordinary group have continued to pick up rubbish in the Fountainstown area EVERY EVENING, DURING THE SUMMER SEASON, FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS!!!! And what a job they have done!! If you were to walk around Fountainstown any evening after 8pm, you would struggle to find a single piece of litter anywhere in the area. “Without a doubt, the cleanest beach in Cork” was how one lady visiting Fountainstown Beach recently described the area.
This group have picked up so much rubbish that Fountainstown Beach Park owner, Peter West, has had to get a large industrial sized bin from the council to hold this rubbish. On many occasions, they filled so many rubbish bags that they had to call on Una Hegarty, Sean Hegarty (RIP) or Lucy O’Leary to come and help transport the rubbish collected back to the caravan park. Since they started last summer, Rita, Natasha, Lydia, Claire, Lauren and Dean have collected ALMOST 600 BAGS OF RUBBISH!!!! Now, 600 bags of rubbish is a huge amount for anyone to pick up. For a group of children, aged between 11 and 16 (along with Rita who wouldn’t divulge her age!!!), to pick up this amount of rubbish, while on their summer holidays, is an outstanding feat.
The Fountainstown community are so lucky and even more so grateful to have a group of summer residents that have selflessly given up so much of their holiday time to make the Fountainstown area look as good as it does today. Numerous posts have been left on the Fountainstown Beach Facebook page, all thanking Rita and her gang for everything they’ve been doing for the area. “Fountainstown People of the Year” is a title many locals suggest this group deserve to be awarded.
“Heroes” was how one Fountainstown resident recently described this very special group. “SUPER-HEROES” are what they are.
