No mobile sauna for beaches in south Wexford as council says it doesn’t want to turn car parks into ‘mini trading areas’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

No sooner had a pilot scheme which will see a mobile sauna installed at Cahore Beach been announced when those in the rest of Co Wexford began to cast jealous eyes northwards. In June of this year it was confirmed that the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) was seeking applications for a beach licence to provide a mobile sauna facility on a pilot basis from July 2026 to June 2027.

And at the monthly meeting of the Wexford Borough District, Councillor Robbie Staples wished to know if a similar project could be initiated at one of the beaches in the south of the county.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Borough, Cllr Staples asked environmental engineer Hugh Maguire whether a mobile sauna could be trialled in the district’s beaches.

Explaining why Wexford County Council (WCC) had opted to run a pilot project in Cahore, Mr Maguire said it represented an opportunity to allow one of the many mobile sauna operators to set up shop in a public space.

“There’s been a proliferation of mobile saunas around the county, not just in coastal areas but inland too at lakes and rivers, it’s a popular phenomenon,” he said. “There’s about nine of them in Co Wexford at the moment but most are on private property.”

Of those nine, Mr Maguire said some were operating without full planning permission.

“Our planning department has been pursuing a number of these because if you start a business in your front yard it will have an effect on the local area, on traffic movement and noise, some of those are operating on private property close to the beach.”

With regards to the sauna in Cahore, Mr Maguire said it would be the only one licensed by WCC for the next year.

“We’re trying this because we’ve had requests from operators asking if they can use the public space on the beach so we’re putting one in Cahore to see how it works. We may look at it again next year. The beach is probably one of the last free environments you can come and enjoy but some of our car parks aren’t very large so we don’t want to turn them into mini casual trading areas.”