“Fermanagh welcomes you naturally.” Not according to business owners in the tourist industry at Blaney.
Ahead of the Easter Bank holiday weekend they say the rubbish being dumped along the Shore Road is nothing short of a disgrace.
Disposable coffee cups, bottles, plastic and bin liners filled with food waste are all strewn across the side of the road, ready to welcome Fermanagh’s tourists this weekend.
“The first impression any tourist would get of Fermanagh is that it looks so dirty and unclean,” says Gabriele Tottenham, owner of Blaney Spa and Yoga Centre.
“Myself, David Bailie and Charlie Parke are all tourist providers in this area and we want something to be done.
“This has been going on for years and years but I would say it is actually getting worse.”
According to Gabriele, the Council have carried out their duty on countless occasions, but if the issue is ever going to be resolves once and for all, it is the general public’s habits that need to change.
“People need to be educated,” says the native of Germany.
“The British government want to introduce a scheme that when you recycle plastic or cans, you get money back - this is already practised in Holland and Germany. When you bring back plastic to a supermarket, you put it into a shoot and you get a few pence back. It works because these countries are very clean - Ireland is dirty.
“We have raised the issue with the Council before but the thing is: why does the Council have to come out and clear other people’s mess? “Why should we have to employ someone to clean up after other people?
“The onus should be on each individual, otherwise we have a real problem on our hands.”
Charlie Parke, owner of Tully Bay Holiday Homes, says the situation is now “beyond a joke”.
“What we need to do is get another G8 and then they wouldn’t be long about tidying the place up a bit - it’s a real mess it really is - an absolute disgrace.
“The road is strewn with barista coffee cups. There is nobody that I am aware of selling barista coffee out the Shore Road, but someone is obviously making a fortune somewhere.
“Something needs to be done about it.