An investigation into the public’s perception of Haulbowline Island and the clean-up effort: A comparison of local Cork City and Cobh residents.

Abstract

Cork Harbour is situated on the south coast of Ireland and it is considered to be one of the finest and largest natural harbours in the world. Haulbowline Island, a.k.a ‘The Toxic Island’ is just one of the many islands that can be found in this harbour.

This dissertation is an investigation into how the public populations of Cork city and the coastal town of Cobh perceive Haulbowline Island and the East-Tip; the current situation regarding hazardous waste that was inappropriately handled and the remediation. This thesis also aims to understand whether distance from the problem site affects how aware people are of the situation and furthermore; does distance from the island have an effect on how the public perceive it?

The research process generated data collected solely via 120 structured questionnaires. Sixty were handed out in a central location in Cork city and 60 more were distributed in the centre of Cobh town.

The findings from this dissertation provide evidence to suggest that region and knowledge of Haulbowline Island and the East-Tip are independent of each other but people in Cobh, closer to the hazardous waste site are more aware of the situation. Although this is the case, from the research it can also be seen that the study participants in both locations have relatively the same concerns regarding the East-Tip and the clean-up effort taking place.