Tag Archives: illegal dumping

AN incentive scheme to encourage those who witness the “scourge of illegal dumping” to come forward and report it to the authorities has been proposed by an Ennis councillor. Councillor Pat Daly believes that an award scheme which recognises those who come forward publicly should be put in place, and he has received the backing of his council colleagues. Speaking at a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District he urged that the Council “consider finding ways to incentivise civic-minded members of the public to report incidences of illegal dumping in the Ennis municipal district area and, where possible, make evidence available”. The councillor commented, “There are two types of people who see illegal dumping and want to report it. One is someone who gives the information and wants to stay anonymous, but the other is a person that has no problem reporting and is prepared to give evidence. “This is a suggestion, but some award scheme should be given …

An East Clare councillor has branded as “disgraceful and outrageous” the situation at The 12 O’Clock Hills in terms of illegal dumping and anti-social behaviour. Councillor Joe Cooney made his comments at the recent meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District when he called for a barrier to be erected to address issues including fly-tipping, theft, bike-scrambling and other unauthorised and illegal activities in the area. The Fine Gael member proposed that the barrier might be put in place on the link road between at Torpey Hurleys and the R471 at Oatfield Church. He stressed that this would only be done after consultation with householders, landowners, The 12 O’Clock Hills committee and Coillte. “There is a major issue with unlawful dumping and anti-social behaviour,” he said. “There’s a lot of concern over what’s going on at The 12 O’Clock Hills. A number of different groups have approached us and made an appeal to stop these illegal activities.” Councillor Cooney outlined how …

CALLS for urgent action on illegal dumping have been repeated in response to concerns about the worsening biodiversity crisis. At a meeting of the Physical Development Meeting committee of the local authority last week, Councillor Alan O’Callaghan said community groups are fed up with having to respond to the ongoing problem of fly-tipping in scenic areas across the county. The Fianna Fáil members’ comments followed a detailed presentation from Heritage Officer Congella McGuire on biodiversity initiatives in the county, and an outline of the threats to nature created by pollution and other issues. “I don’t need to remind you that we are in a biodiversity crisis,” Ms McGuire said, as she outlined a number of initiatives that are ongoing in the county. “One-third of our bee species are threatened and two-third of bird species are in a red or amber conservation concern criteria. 85% of our important wildlife habitats are seen as being in an ‘unfavourable’ status.” Responding to the …

DUMPING and littering in East Clare have prompted calls from community organisations for more to be done to tackle the issues. While the Tidy Towns competition has been called off for this year, community leaders say they are still determined to address persistent littering in their areas. In Mountshannon, which scooped a national Tidy Towns title in 1981 and a Bronze Medal last year, large-scale dumping of household waste has been a recurrent issue. Joanne Dunphy-Allen, Co-Chairperson of Mountshannon Community Council said that a recent incident had generated anger locally. “It is very maddening, particularly because the Scariff Recycling Centre is just down the road,” she pointed out. “We’ve had refuse scattered around the pier and someone even managed to dump a significant amount in at the back of the bottle banks. That would not be an easy thing to do. The community has been very quick to go in an clear up, but this shouldn’t be happening in the …

Clare County Council is to install CCTV cameras, both covert and mounted, around Shragh Bog in Doonbeg in the hope of shedding light on those responsible for the indiscriminate dumping of domestic waste in the locality. Doonbeg Development Association has ambitious plans to develop walking routes around the parish and have just started work on the provision of a looped walking route at Shragh Bog. However, members of the association were infuriated to discover that the route, a short distance from the Wild Atlantic Way, has become a major blackspot and the scale of illegal dumping “defied belief”. Clare County Council’s environmental community warden for West and North Clare, Conor Leyden has been working with the group in an effort to address the issue and next Tuesday he has organised for a private contractor to be on site for a major clean up operation. “Doonbeg community group is very proactive and doing great work on the ground in the village, …

A total of €63,000 has been allocated to help the county clean up its act when it comes to littering and illegal dumping. A total of €40,000 in funding has been approved to tackle illegal dumping in Clare, with a further €23,000 pledged to crack down on litter, dog fouling and graffiti. Minister of State Breen said the aim of this funding, allocated by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment under the Anti-Dumping Initiative, is to reduce illegal dumping and nuisance litter by providing finance for projects tackling the problem. “The idea is to develop an integrated and effective combined approach with local authorities, communities and other state agencies. “This funding will empower people across Clare to take action against those in society who commit criminal acts against their communities by wilfully and irresponsibly dumping their waste and spoiling the most valuable asset we have – our natural environment,” added Minister Breen. “A wide range of clean-up and …

THERE were just nine prosecutions in relation to illegal dumping in Clare last year, county council figures show. At this week’s meeting of the council, members were told over €1.7 million was spent on running the council’s waste enforcement section over the last four years. While there have been “very few large-scale illegal dumps” in Clare in recent years, there have been increasing incidences of people dumping small amounts of waste. As well as the nine prosecutions, there were 75 litter fines in 2014. Various members voiced their disgust at the level of illegal dumping, with calls for new penalties. Councillors Clare Colleran Molloy, Pat McMahon and Michael Hillery put down a joint motion asking for information on illegal dumping, including the number of prosecutions, the financial cost to the council of illegal dumping and information on patterns of dumping, in each of the last four years. In her written reply Anne Haugh, of the council’s environment section, outlined the …