War over a dung deal as tourist jarveys object to horse nappies
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Tuesday June 09 2009
IT's just d'ungbelievable. Park officials and the drivers of picture-postcard jaunting carriages are locked in battle over the use of 'horse nappies'.
Tourists and locals have complained for years that horse manure is spoiling the scenic walkways around Killarney National Park.
The huge piles of dung are also being blamed for scuppering attempts to secure a much-coveted 'Tidy Towns' title for the famous Co Kerry destination.
As a result, park officials had set yesterday as the first day when jarvey horse-drawn carriages had to be fitted with dung-catchers -- or 'equine sanitary devices' -- to rid the cycleways and footpaths of manure.
However, none of the carriages which operate along the 15km of internal roadway in the park complied, sparking warnings from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
There have been a number of failed attempts over the years to get jarveys to use the dung-catchers on the public roads in and around Killarney.
Now the NPWS, which has jurisdiction over the private roads and pathways in the park, has introduced regulations stipulating that the catchers must be used while the jarveys are on their land.
But the jarveys are resisting, saying the catchers will throw the carriages and the horses off balance.
The numbers of jaunting cars which are not abiding by the new rules are being noted, and the drivers are given warnings.
Signs have also been placed in a number of areas around the park which stretches from the town to Ross Castle and along the byways of the Muckross area.
"The NPWS are disappointed to note that your jaunting car has not been equipped with such a device despite a long process of consultation and demonstrations in relation to these new arrangements," say the notices.
Park officials say the new arrangements were introduced under "aesthetic, environmental, tourism and health and safety grounds".
Around 80 families, who are dependent on the jarveys, have been warned that they cannot operate legally in the park without a horse nappy.
"We are in correspondence with the NPWS and we have given them substantial information. We are awaiting a reply from them," said jarveys' spokesman Paudie O'Donovan.
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Clean
He said the jarveys were in situ in Muckross even before the park was handed over to the State in the 1930s.
They wanted the park to be clean but there were methods other than dung catchers which could be used.
Last night, former Fine Gael councillor Sheila Casey, who lobbied to have the ban extended to the town, said the same system had worked effectively in Prague, Rome and Blackpool.
"People can't walk in our park any more," she said. "I can't understand why they won't even try the device. They are saying that our roads are very different to those in Europe but all I would say is, why don't they try the device."
The plan had been that the dung-catchers would be fitted and 'dung-depots' would be placed around the park to empty the contents of the holders -- the dung to be later sold on as manure for roses to local gardeners.
"We are not changing our position. We are going to insist that they use them," said Philip Buckley, the divisional manager for the NPWS in Munster. He added that the NPWS had offered to supply the first of the dung catchers.
- Anne Lucey and Shane Hickey
