By Ciaran O’Neill
FEARS that visitors could go to the toilet around historical monuments are behind plans for a new loo on a Co Fermanagh island.
Thousands of people visit Devenish Island on Lough Erne each year to walk around the ancient ruins on the uninhabited island.
At present, the only toilet on the island is located beside a small visitor centre.
However, the temporary water supply for the toilet is no longer available.
As a result, a planning application has been lodged with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to build a new permanent toilet on the island.
water supply
If the plans are given the green light, a borehole will be drilled into the ground to source a water supply for the facility, which would also be located beside the visitor centre.
Documents supplied with the planning application highlight the importance of the proposed new toilet.
“To continue allowing access to the Island with no toilet provision will lead to the risk of the monuments being used as toilets with detrimental impact on the monuments, the landscape and the visitor experience,” a report on the impact of the work states.
“The application is to sink a borehole well to service the existing visitor centre on the Island.
“The visitor centre contains the only toilet facilities on the island and the existing ad-hoc arrangement for the water supply has come to an end.
“To run a new water supply from the mainland to the visitor centre would involve excavation on the visually and ecologically sensitive water margins and was ruled out.
“A feasibility study and business case identified a borehole well as the solution with the smallest archaeological and ecological impact.
“The well will be bored adjacent to the rear of the visitor centre on previously disturbed ground in an area covered in an existing tarmac perimeter path.”
Devenish Island is home to several famous monuments.
These include what has been described as the ‘best preserved Round Tower in Ireland’.
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