Car driven on to Mornington beach and set ablaze
Gardai at Ashbourne are investigating after a car was driven onto the beach at Mornington and set on fire on Friday night.
Eyewitness John Myles was walking on the beach on when he heard an explosion and initially thought a trawler might have caught fire.
"On arrival we discovered it was the car on fire and we called the fire service. One unit from Drogheda attended and two Garda units arrived but they couldn't put the flames out because there was physically no access for the truck so they watched and let it burn itself out. The tide was coming back in so that extinguished the flames and everyone stood down at 11.57."
Local Cllr Sharon Tolan said the Council's Area Engineer will be requested to look at ways to prevent cars gaining access to the beach.
"Sadly, someone went to an awful lot of effort to drive across the Mornington dunes and burn a car on our Green Flag beach on Friday night, said Cllr Tolan in a post to her Facebook page.
"If you have any information that may lead to catching the individual responsible, please get in touch with the Gardaí locally."
At last Thursday's monthly meeting of Laytown Bettystown Municipal District, Cllr Tolan said she had raised very serious concerns about the damage being caused in Mornington by vehicles.
The ban on vehicles accessing the beach at Bettystown has been extended until September.
The beaches in Meath have been closed to vehicles since March following huge crowds descending on the beaches during the Covid-19 lockdown of the country.
Meath County Council confirmed at the Environment SPC that they had received a very large volume of emails from the public asking that the beach remain car free.
Two online petitions that were launched last month resulted in over 4,500 members of the public supporting the ban on cars, while 383 people supported a return for drivers to the Meath beaches.
The Environment SPC today agreed to extend the ban on vehicles and to review the matter at their next meeting in September.