Wexford council to grant licence for mobile sauna at beach in north of county

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

After much deliberation Wexford County Council (WCC) has decided to run a pilot scheme in which it will allow a mobile beachside sauna operator to set up shop in the north of the county.

For the past two summers councillors in the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) have called upon the council to let one of the many interested parties set up a sauna at a local beach and, at their latest monthly meeting, they received the news they had been waiting for.

“WCC is seeking applications for a beach licence to provide a mobile sauna facility on a pilot basis from July ‘26 to June ‘27,” confirmed district manager Anita McLoughlin who said the advert would soon be placed in local news outlets.

“From a tourism perspective it will be a good audition for us as a county, but we don’t want to displace existing businesses,” added director of services Liz Hore. “The rest of the districts in the county will be looking to see how we get on with this.”

Ms McLoughlin said the operation of the sauna would be incorporated into WCC’s beach by-laws and would permit the business owner to set up on public lands in the GKMD.

While news that a sauna will soon be available for tourists and locals visiting north Wexford’s beaches was welcomed, there remained concerns regarding those setting up coffee trucks and food stalls in and around coastal locations with Councillor Anthony Donohue describing the current state of play as “lawless”.

“What’s our stance on coffee shops operating out of people’s front gardens?” he asked. “In one instance, there’s a service station nearby which is trying to sell coffee as well. The service station pays rates while the owner of the horse box doesn’t.”

“I will look into that,” said Ms Hore.