Bray Seafront Again

amtw

Just need to get this out of my system.

I went for a walk on the Prom with my son last Thursday evening. That was the day that Katie Taylor won her Olympic gold. The place was buzzin after the fight. There were groups of people walking around eating, drinking and having a good time. It was a opportunity for Bray to show itself off in the best light. Visitors have long been the life blood of the town and last Thursday we could have attracted a new generation of tourists.

Instead we presented a filthy litter strewn urine soaked seafront that no one could be proud of. What was the council thinking of or obviously not thinking. Why wasn't there a couple of workers down there cleaning up the rubbish and emptying bins. I know there are constraints surrounding paying overtime but surely 2 people could have been given time off on another day so that the prom could have been kept clean and safe. There were plenty of Garda around on their bikes and just walking so the place felt safe, pity about the dirt.

Worse then the litter though was that both sets of public toilets were closed. A couple of hundred people left without basic facilities, so what happened; there was urine flowing across the prom at the back of the baracuda and at the rowing club. Why were the toilets closed. Has no one in a position of authority in the council got a brain in their head, it's no wonder the town it dying. They should all be sacked they are not fit for purpose.

Sorry just had to get it off my chest.

anto9

Sounds awful .

Splendour

Did you contact the council about this amtw, we don't want a repeat of this today...

zoobizoo

I wasn't down that evening but the morning after and it was very messy with bottles and cans everywhere.

Couple of things to point out though:

The fight was shown up in Shoreline and the council and volunteers were up there.

People just left their bottles, cans and beer boxes where they were drinking them - they made no effort to use the bins on the beach. They just upped and left. I noticed that the bins weren't full and the extra bins which were laid on for Summerfest were still on the beach and unused so it was down to the lazy and bad behaviour of the individuals.

A lot of visitors let's say decided to turn the event into a piss up down the seafront as it was a lovely day. The pubs wouldn't let them in so they headed to the off licenses. The council could hardly be blamed for not predicting that - I was surprised seeing pissed up lads in Tesco picking up crates at 6.30 pm. Also, the staff would have had to wait around til after eleven when the last Darts and buses were running to pick up after these filth bags.

Like most people, I don't piss in public. I don't drink cans in public. I don't leave broken bottles out. Don't blame the council for the behaviour of people who don't give a damn about the town.

I was as annoyed as you when I saw the litter but I blame the idiots who can't equate pride in Katie with pride in the environment. Ironic too that she's a teetotaler.

We probably presented a clean seafront where families can come and enjoy themselves - those who act like scumbags left it in the condition in which you saw it.

Calibos

I was talking to a guard and he said they and the council were expecting up to 10,000 well behaved locals up at shoreline. The council and Garda resources were put in place primarily at that location. All concerned including the 10,000 locals and families that came from other parts of the country to the shoreline did themselves proud.

Unfortunately another few thousand of what can only be described as the dregs of Dublin arrived in on the dart. I live near the station and let's just say that the type of people flooding off the dart was a sight to behold. Literacy and intelligence not being their strong suit, they didnt know the event was being held elsewhere. Thus in their boredom they do what they usually do to entertain themselves and just have a laugh by intimidating people, pissing in public, throwing their rubbish around, running over the roofs of cars and kicking off wing mirrors etc.

Tbh we are blessed the event for locals was at the other end of Bray. It could have been ruined if the Dart contingent had found their way to it.

With All Dublin receptions/events cancelled and Bray being the only 'medal winning' town near to Dublin and with comprehensive transport links to Dublin, well I expect to see thousands of Dublins 'finest' out in force again. Hopefully all council and Garda resources will be in place on the seafront to deal with them this time.

frag420

Calibos wrote: »

.Unfortunately another few thousand of what can only be described as the dregs of Dublin arrived in on the dart. I live near the station and let's just say that the type of people flooding off the dart was a sight to behold. Literacy and intelligence not being their strong suit, they didnt know the event was being held elsewhere. Thus in their boredom they do what they usually do to entertain themselves and just have a laugh by intimidating people, pissing in public, throwing their rubbish around, running over the roofs of cars and kicking off wing mirrors etc.

Were Swedish House Mafia playing there??;)

amtw

Sorry as I already said I needed to get that rant off my chest.

I know that people should be responsible for their own behaviour but I still think that the council got last Thursday seriously wrong. It was a beautiful summers evening and all of the public toilets were closed, why?
Where were visitors including children supposed to go to relieve themselves, they aren't allowed into pubs or restaurants to use the bathrooms, the public toilets should have been open, not just that evening but every evening.

As for the litter, it is disgraceful that people don't pick up after themselves but once it's there then it is the council's responsibility to clean it up. If that had happened then others might not have thought it was ok to add to the mess by throwing more rubbish on the ground.

I don't agree that it was not possible to predict that crowds of people would turn up to support Katie on teh day of the final. The main street had been packed when they showed the semi-final fight the day before and there were quite large numbers on that day on the seafront. A little planning and forethought was seriously lacking.

zoobizoo

You see, there was planning and forethought.... it was for a family event up at Shoreline. That's where the resources on the day were. Lots of volunteers were up helping out. There has been months of planning for the event.

Had the weather been bad that day, there wouldn;t have been any problem on the seafront - in fact, most rubbish is left after great days - hard to predict.

It was well planned and well executed as anyone who was there will attest to and anyone who saw on tv will as well.

There's always room on these committees for volunteer (time, ideas and effort).

The council cleaners were out in force early the next day to clean it up and even had there lorry with them. I wouldn't expect the beach cleaners to be waiting around til late at night to pick up after a bunch of scum bags although I would expect the Gardai to confiscate alcohol and move people on.

And while in theory people seeing beach cleaners might encourage them to bin their bottles, the fact is that they just see that there is someone to clean up after them (that wonderful feelign of entitlement) - or moreso they don't have the intelligence to realise what they are doing is disgusting.

First thing that didn't spring to mind was blaming the council - it was blaming the scobes.

Calibos

I think we'll be hitting airshow numbers at least by the time Katie arrives. The Guards are directing all seafront bound locals and arrivals on the dart southbound along the Meath road and its literally people from one side of the road to the other. Never seen so many people on Albert Avenue/Meath road before. Could be epic. Looks like plenty of council and Garda resources in place.

Annasopra

I think the Town council generally do a great job of keeping the seafront clean. In this case I think they made a forgivable mistake because they were so focused on the Shoreline.

Groups like Bray Tidy Towns and Bray Coastcare always look for volunteers as well if the OP feels that way inclined.

This week was tough for the council in terms of crowd and event management. They did an excellent job in general and I think the Council and Chamber did Katie proud and Bray proud by putting such a huge amount of effort and planning into the events.