Once one of Dublin's best loved and most picturesque sea ports, Bulloch Harbour is today a picture of neglect.
Rusting chain-rails and damaged pillar stones, last painted more than two years ago, run the full length of the pier, the end of which is cracked and weakened after years of erosion and boating collisions.
A new viewing bench sits incongruously at the mouth of the harbour, behind it a row of dilapidated seats, each with wooden planks and stone supports missing.
There are signs warning dog-owners against leaving dirt behind but anyone wishing to do their civic duty won't find a public dustbin on site. The only place for litter is a black plastic sack which has been put up by a local resident.
Abandoned, decaying boats are dotted around the area beside discarded fishing equipment, nets and cages. Everywhere - in the water, on sand banks, amid the rocks - there are plastic bottles, sweet wrappers and drinks cans, untouched for weeks if not months.
"We've had years of people taking the place for granted, using it without putting anything back in," said one local yesterday. "And now no one wants to know about it."
It seems that neither the Department of Marine and Natural Resources nor Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council wants to know about the harbour. The two are embroiled in a protracted battle over who should pay for essential repairs and maintenance work and, in the meantime, the harbour rots.
Responsibility for the amenity was due to have been passed over to the local authority two years ago. However, Mr John Guckian, the county council's senior administrative officer in charge of harbours, said it was not prepared "to take over something which would be an immediate liability for us".
Local Fianna Fail councillor Ms Betty Coffey said the cost of the repairs could run into millions of pounds and "despite the perception that the county council is flush with funds, we don't have that kind of money".
She said the Department seemed to want to "dump" the problem on the local authority. "They are the ones who neglected the place and they want us to carry the liability. As a result, there is this stalemate."
She added that the neglect was "scandalous when you consider we are trying to develop the coastal area as a major tourist attraction".
After failed attempts to get the Department to carry out the necessary works through the Dublin Port and Docks Authority, the council is applying directly to it for funds to carry out the repairs itself. The two authorities met last month to discuss the plan but no agreement has been reached.
While responsibility for maintenance work lay with the Department, Ms Coffey admitted the council was to blame for any litter problem. She said new bins should be installed and serviced to cater for the scores of visitors attracted to the harbour at weekends.
Another need for the area is a public toilet, as the nearest one is more than a mile away in Dalkey village.
Among the local residents there is growing frustration at the lack of progress. While many stress the area should not be "sanitised", as it remains a working harbour with fishing and boating operations, all acknowledge the need for rejuvenation.
Ms Breege Ward, who recently returned from the US to her home at Pilot View, said she was shocked at the decline of the harbour area. "Something really should be done," she added.
