Achill anger after council sent staff to inspect contents of local bonfires

An Achill councillor has queried why Mayo County Council sent a lorry and staff to the island to scrutinise the contents of local bonfires on St John’s Night.

Cllr Paul McNamara complained bitterly about the practice at the June meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, telling the forum the island is targetted each year for the traditional Bonfire Night.

"On the 23rd of June we celebrated St John’s Night, which is a longstanding tradition, and yet again, Mayo County Council sends down a truck with two people on it and a member of the Environment Section and starts rummaging through all the gathered material for burning.

“It is beyond me why they do this one day of the year, when I see all that is being neglected that they should be doing. It is a traditional night and particularly in the area I come from it is still held in high esteem, where people gather and celebrate. 

"Why Mayo County Council takes it upon themselves to come into the area and hire an eight-wheeler lorry and go around looking for what they think will pollute the atmosphere, is just unbelievable. For the next twelve weeks we will have wild camping right though the island and all will have fires outside their tents. Where is Mayo County Council on those nights if they are so concerned about the pollution in the air?” 

Cllr McNamara said that 500 metres from where the lorry inspected one of the fires “we have a pontoon that has not even been [completed] yet".

"We got money allocated for it to link Dugort and Blacksod but it has still not been put out and we are now in July. I fought tooth and nail and brought down two ministers to make sure we got funding for it two years ago, with agreement to take it away in winter and put it out in May, but now we are coming into July. This is a disgrace, especially considering the effort made to get it there.” 

He added that the previous September a sod-turning took place for new toilets, showers and changing rooms at Keel Beach, “with the understanding it would be ready in June, but those toilets won’t be ready this year".

"It will be November at the earliest, so now we have missed another season in 2026 because they are still not finished.” 

An irate Cllr McNamara continued: “Yet we can send down an eight-wheeler lorry and two drivers and an environment official to start rummaging through and picking out what you think will do damage, and right overhead at the top point of Slievemore Mountain, there is air traffic going over to America, and what pollution is coming out of that?

“I make no bones about the fact that people do get rid of rubbish as they always did to make the fire big for the youngsters, but I think Mayo County Council are losing their marbles in relation to what they are focusing on. Two of the slipways in my area have still not been cleaned, the pontoon hasn’t gone out and the toilets are not ready at Keel Beach. This is where the focus should be and not wondering what is going to be burnt in a bonfire.” 

Cllr John O’Malley said he totally agreed with his Achill colleague, adding: “You are talking here about a little bonfire. What does that put into the atmosphere compared to what the bombing in the Middle East and the Ukraine does in one minute? That puts more into the atmosphere than all the bonfires in Ireland; and when people have one night to enjoy themselves, it is incredible to think the council has time to go down there to Achill and do that.” 

Cllr Chris Maxwell also supported Cllr McNamara, saying: “There’s money for bringing the likes of that truck down to Achill but not for the real things the council should be focusing on”.

Cllr Gerry Coyle said: “That truck was no doubt running on diesel and did more damage to the environment than what a bit of a fire would do. It’s the same air we all breathe. I believe in global warming, but we are on a very slippery slope if we think a small fire in Achill is going to kill us.” 

Head of the municipal district Seamus Ó Mongáin said it was to be expected that the construction of the pontoon would take some time. He also noted that the beach facilities at Keel are progressing well and are scheduled to open to the public in August.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.