Claims that public toilets in Enniskillen were being used by “for sex” were flagged up to Fermanagh District Council in the 1990s.

It was in the public toilets at Nugent’s Entry where it is claimed young boys were sexually abused by a network of men during the 1980s and 1990s.

While the Council says it does not hold any record of the alleged abuse of children it is known that concerns of activities within the toilets were flagged up with its officers.

A letter, written by shop owners and sent to Council officials in the 1990s after the public amenities were damaged in an arson attack, was published in this newspaper.

The shop owners lodged their objections to the Council’s plans to rebuild the toilet block which had been extensively damaged in a fire.

In a letter to the technical services department of the Council, the businessmen said if the toilets are not moved to a better position they will quickly return to the “disgusting and appalling” state they were in before the fire.

“We want to voice our deep concerns at the siting of these toilets.

“The toilets are reported to have been used by young persons for sex, drug abuse, drinking, etc.

It has been reported to the police that men have exposed themselves outside these toilets,” stated the letter. We would suggest that the reasons for the above are both the siting of these toilets and the type of building used,” it added.

Enniskillen Chamber of Commerce backed the businessmen. A spokesman said the Chamber felt that to restore the toilets would be a “dreadful waste” of public funds and the shop owners’ objections were well founded.

45-year-old Kevin Brown claims at least 20 men molested or raped him for over three years in the toilets and other locations beginning in 1987, when he was 12.