The opening of the toilets was being tried out in a bid to curb increased numbers of incidents of indecent exposure and urinating in public on Friday and Saturday nights. A spokesman for the PSNI previously warned of the consequences for those caught committing these offences, who face a hefty £45 fine.   

At the monthly council meeting in Enniskillen, the council’s Chief Executive Brendan Hegarty revealed that the trial underway since Friday, October 14th and due to run until after Christmas, has now been halted. 

“Unfortunately our trial of the weekend opening of Eden Street public toilets, while it was going well originally, has seen substantial vandalism in the toilets. We have temporarily suspended that trial pending a report to Environmental Services,” he told members.    

Ulster Unionist Cllr Alex Baird expressed his disappointment at the news: “Quite a few councillors had put a proposal forward in relation to the toilets being opened and for people to wreck them in the way that they did goes beyond belief. I still think that there is a problem with urination on the street in some places and this certainly doesn’t help it with the toilets being wrecked. How anyone would do that I don’t know but they do and yet again the ratepayers of Fermanagh and Omagh will have to come up with the repair bill.”   

DUP Cllr Keith Elliott also expressed his disappointment that the toilets had been vandalised. 

Sinn Fein Councillor Thomas O’Reilly added: “It is a civic responsibility for everybody to respect public conviences which were trialled to help people when they were waiting for taxis.”