'We're destroying our own countryside' and 'putting people's lives at risk'

A Donegal county councillor has warned that discarded rubbish thrown on the side of bus roads could have fatal consequences.

Independent Michael McClafferty of the Glenties MD was speaking after taking it upon himself to get rid of waste in Falcarragh.

“I come across these couple of items here in the N56,” he said. “The most serious thing here, two wine bottles, family's wrappers which should be in your bin, another collection of stuff here, a BPM bottle, a 7up tin, a few other bits and pieces of papers, a pizza box, so on. All the stuff that could have been brought home.

”So, this is serious. I'm here at the bottle banks in Invercare. I actually jumped out, put on a pair of disposable gloves, and lifted them on my way here, because it was the easiest thing to do.

“You need to think of the cyclists, guys, you need to think of the motorcycle boys, John McGinley's coaches, Fede O'Donnell's coaches, Mangan's coaches, every other bus, every car driver around here, young person, whatever it may be. People have different kinds of tyres now, low tyres, so on, etc. Doesn't take much to bust them.

“The same thing could happen over there in the N56 outside Gortahork. Comes across a lorry, a bus tyre, whatever, a car tyre, cuts the tyre, blows out the tyre, puts the car in over the hedge, serious accident, somebody seriously hurt, somebody worse, maybe somebody killed.

“You know, is it worth it, like, could you not have brought it home? brought it back here to the bottle banks of Falcarragh like I'm doing now? Disposed of it properly?”

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Cllr McClafferty said people dumping rubbish along the side of roads not only makes a safety issue, but it’s a real slap in the face to those who go out of their way to keep things tidy.

He added: “There are people in this town, Falcarragh, meticulously every morning, early morning, to be out here cleaning the streets, without fear or favour of doing it, they just go and do it because it's the right thing to do,

“They do it because they want to do it, keep their areas tidy. There are people here as well, then, on a coordinated basis. They do this day in, day out, and this is the thanks. It’s like we throw it back in their faces. We're destroying our own countryside, our own fields, ditches, everything, hedgerows, putting people's lives at risk, particularly the cyclists, the motorcyclists, the runners, the joggers, the car drivers. There's no need for it. We need to cop on, please, before something seriously happens.”