'Disgusting' scenes as Salthill volunteers fume over beach state after hot weather

‘Our beaches and the prom are an essential part of life in Salthill and it was very sad to see this happen’

Published 14th Aug 2026, 20:27 BST Salthill volunteers cleaning up the litter on the beach | Iconic ‘Our beaches and the prom are an essential part of life in Salthill and it was very sad to see this happen’ Sign up to our Connacht Tribune Today daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Connacht Tribune within your account.

Images of litter -strewn beaches in Salthill during July's prolonged hot spell sparked widespread anger.

But while many voiced their frustration, one group of Heskin swimmers quietly set about doing something about it.

Spurred by a sense of civic duty, they sprang into action after witnessing the scale of litter left behind, collecting everything from food containers and plastic packaging to broken glass, alcohol bottles and nappies to prevent the rubbish being washed out to sea.

Spearheaded by Anita Murphy and Aisling Lynch, the community-led clean-up took place every evening at 8pm throughout the three-week period.

Armed with plastic bags, litter pickers and gloves supplied by Galway City Council , up to 20 volunteers headed to the beaches each evening to collect what had been left behind by the thousands who had flocked to Salthill.

Many of the volunteers were members of the Heskin League, a long-running Thursday evening open-water swimming event that attracts swimmers of all abilities to Salthill each summer.

"It was a Thursday night after the Heskin swim and we were on our way home," recalled volunteer Mary Molloy.

"It was disgusting what we saw. We were afraid it would all be pulled out into the sea during high tide. We were chatting the next morning and put a call out to anyone who would be available at 8pm to come and help pick up what was left from the day.

Mary said the volunteers were driven by concern for the environment and the impact the rubbish would have if it was washed out to sea at high tide.

"How can you not bring it back with you? There were beer bottles, vodka bottles and wine bottles. If those filled up with sand and were pulled out to sea, it would be a disaster. There was so much glass. There were plastic food bowls, towels, clothes and nappies.

"There was one funny incident where we were asked by a girl if we found her missing Birkenstocks. We told her the bags were open and to go and search herself!"

Mary said she was heartened by the response from those they asked to tidy up after themselves.

"There was a bit of craic and a laugh as we told them to 'pick up after ye'," she said.

"If you went around to most of the groups and handed them a bag, most people did clean up after themselves, and young people just joined us and came along.

"One 18-year-old was so excited, she said she would come down every day to help."

The volunteers met each evening to collect rubbish from the main Salthill beach and nearby Crab Pool beach.

At its busiest, they collected up to 25 bags of rubbish in a single evening. On another night, they filled 20 bags.

The filled bags were left above the tide line, where the volunteers knew they would be picked up by the city's street cleaning crews early the following morning.

"The council were brilliant. They do an amazing job. Every morning they were out early and took the bags away."

Mary said the addition of new plastic storage containers had also been helpful and suggested they could be put in place earlier during future periods of hot weather as a preventative measure.

She believed the combination of the hot weather and alcohol consumption had contributed to the excessive littering.

"Our beaches and the prom are an essential part of life in Salthill and it was very sad to see this happen," she said.

With the hot spell over, the daily community clean-up effort ended.

"We did our bit and we felt the rubbish wasn't going to get dragged out to where people swim," she said.

"Thankfully, the beaches are now cleaner. But we do miss the fine weather."