Restrictions on dogs/horses on Kerry blue flag beaches..

Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.

They are blue flag beaches for a reason.

If there is dog **** on them etc etc then they will not be blue flag beaches.

And if you don't care about the health aspects then it hurts revenue from tourism etc.

I notice people who don't understand the environment/health cost of something DO understand the money aspect.

People don't understand this.

Or don't care.

It's willful ignorance.

This from the Indo suggests otherwise.

I would have no problem with dogs and horses being banned from beaches during the summer months. Peak time you could call it. Mind you, I would like to see an end to those horse fairs in Listowel once a month too, they really mess the place up big time.

I walk a beach everyday which is provided with bins AND bags AND big fcuk-off signs and still owners think it's beneath them to pick their dogsh1t up.

I have seen bags of sh1t left under seats in an effort to hide them and bags being washed out and washed up again with the tide.

There's nature on most regular Irish beaches as well, they're not just human playgrounds.

It'll be ignored like it is in Kilkee Co Clare, you can't police it all the time

Same people who's dogs are destroying the native wildlife probably boast about their Disney+ subscriptions where there kids can learn about nature on National Geographic. 😞

(Edit)

After getting down off my high horse ...

I think there is just not enough awareness of this. You see public information about dogs worrying/killing sheep, but still it happens.

There has to be a better way to inform people as to why these restrictions are in place, i.e. the spirit of the restrictions ...

Otherwise people just think it's another stupid law to wrangle around.

Can't say I've a problem with it but the biggest problem are people. As a dog owner you've two jobs when walking it in public, keep it under control and clean up after it. I've two dogs myself, the two of them have never been off a lead in public trails,beaches,parks etc. A roll of bags can be less then a euro and some places even provide bags, dog owners have no excuse not to clean up after them. My dogs love the beach but I'll never bring them there firing the summer. Animals aside just look at the state people leave beaches and parks in during the summer, it's a disgrace

I'm lucky to live near an awful lot of beaches. Some are quieter, less known ones. Some are very popular touristy ones. Some are blue flag, some are not. On every single one, human rubbish is an issue. Whether the rubbish got left on the beach itself, or washed up from the shore, or washed downstream from a river...

I get that dog poop is an issue and people really do need to be more considerate that way. Dog poop is toxic. Horse poop is not and most horse owners won't take the animals onto a crowded beach for their own safety.

I get what they're trying to do but people on beaches are a much, much bigger problem than animals.

I haven’t a clue about horses, other than they’re beautiful animals that scare the bejesus out of me, but those horse nappies - what’s the story with them? I mean do they restrict the horses movement or anything?

I’m guessing they’re not ideal when the horse is trying to gallop down the beach? Reading the article the restrictions only appear to apply between 11am and 7pm and there wouldn’t be horses on beaches between those hours anyway would there?

I’d say it’s just that the horse dung is unsightly on the beach, but if there were a way to address that issue 🤔

The nappies scare the bajesus out of most horses, don't seem to have been designed with the horse's biomechanics in mind, can't be used in speeds higher than walk, and are completely pointless anyway.

You might get the odd person on the beach in those time, depending on the tide but you rarely get a horse and rider on a busy beach.

Horse dung you can pick up in your hands, pop it into a bag and take it home to your garden instead of paying for bags of horse manure. I know I've said it on this site before but it still makes me laugh that people shake their fists now about horse manure, then go out and pay a small fortune to buy bags (wrapped in plastic) of it for their garden. It used to be a case, not that long ago, that people would peep out the window as you were passing, hoping they could get some free manure. There used to be scuffles over it if the horse pooped somewhere where there was a few houses together.