Abusive behaviour closes Aran campsite

As scenic locations for campsites go, the one at Inis Oírr, which is right beside the sand dunes and overlooking the Atlantic, is very wild and beautiful.

This is the smallest of the Aran Islands off Co Galway, and for decades people from all over the world have camped here during the summer.

However, yesterday the decision was made to close the campsite, even though this is the middle of Inis Oírr's short and busy tourist season.

Paddy Cole, the manager of the island's co-operative, which owns and runs the site, confirmed that the campsite was to close temporarily for safety reasons.

"I'd say the word is out that there is no guard on the island. People have got the idea that this is the wild west here."

For the last few summers, there has been an ongoing social problem on the island with many young people, mostly male, arriving for the weekend with crates of alcohol and creating havoc at night on the campsite.

Bank holiday weekends, such as the recent Whit weekend, have been particularly troublesome, with campers reporting verbal and physical abuse at night from drunken youths.

There is no permanent Garda presence on the island, although one is sometimes posted there on bank holiday weekends.

The combination of ad-hoc policing, together with late-night drinking, has resulted in Inis Oírr getting an unwelcome reputation as a party island for young people.

Before the campsite closed yesterday, the adjoining toilet blocks were already locked every night from 11.30pm until 7am, due to "anti-social behaviour," as Mr Cole put it.

It remains to be seen if closing the campsite solves the bigger problems of excessive drinking by summer weekend visitors to the island.

Apart from disappointing the bone-fide campers, as Mr Cole says: "all we're doing is removing one means of access to the island. There's nothing to stop people sleeping on the ground - they're already doing that."