Cavan County Council have made a commitment to research different types of public toilet, including self-cleaning ones, their cost and maintenance with a view to installing new ones in Cavan Town.
The decision was taken following a motion put down at the last council meeting by Cavan councillor Paddy McDonald. Cllr McDonald said the issue came to his attention when he was Christmas shopping in the town centre. He discovered the toilets in the town centre were less than impressive, "depressing" even. Now, the local representative is calling for new toilets to be installed in Cavan Town possibly at the retail park and Conn Smith Park.
While a lot of other members agreed with Councillor McDonald's motion, the issue of cost of installing and maintaining any new facilities came up. Director of Services, Mr Paddy Connaughton, said he would make contact with his counterparts in Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to ask them about the self-cleaning models in operation there. Mr Connaughton will revert back to the council about the purchase price and cost of maintaining the toilets at the next monthly meeting.
Paddy McDonald said €100,000 is not a lot today to provide this service for local residents and tourists to our towns. "I went and checked out the men's toilets in this block and they wouldn't impressed you," Cllr McDonald told Northern Sound, "they were very dirty and cold. An amenity area has to be kept up to a certain standard for local residents and visitors to the town."
