Donegal fly-tipping blighting the county

The blight of fly-tipping is once more disfiguring Donegal.

In one recent incident, a concerned resident snapped photographs of illegal dumping in Burt, the South Inishowen village, which adjoins the extremely popular Inch Wildfowl Reserve.

The person said: “We are so fortunate to have a place of scenic beauty on our doorstep, where many people exercise within their 5K limit while working from home.

“One of the bags contains an ‘environmental warrior’ certificate, stickers and also Christmas sweets, toys and general waste. Clearly the irony was lost on the dumper, that while their son or daughter had been awarded a certificate of excellence for caring about the environment, the adult in their life was busy out dumping.

“The other photo contains rubbish such as coffee cups, fizzy drink cans, sweet wrappers and cigarette boxes collected in the Carrowen area near Burt Castle, suggesting people in their vehicles are taking the easy option of throwing their waste out the window before they drive home.

“Can we remind people, we need to care for our environment, so that our children can enjoy the same unpolluted countryside which we did,” they said.

Donegal Councillor Terry Crossan (Sinn Féin) has also highlighted recent incidents of fly-tipping at Mossedge / Lis na Grá in Muff.

Speaking to Donegal Live following last week's Inishowen Municipal District meeting, after which he had been “inundated with calls about illegal dumping”, Cllr Crossan praised the Council's litter wardens.

Cllr Crossan said: “The Council's litter team has been very good and prompt. Many Council employees have been stood down because of Covid-19 and it is only essential services such as litter wardens that are still operating. They are in action, even through they are greatly stretched because they cover the whole county.

“They went up to Lis na Grá where the litter was blocking the whole road. The rubbish was collected and tied it up and, the next day, the van came to collect it and take it away. Whenever they opened some of the bags, they got two names to addresses and they were to able to issue fines to those names and addresses.

“I would advise members of the public to be vigilant if they come across fly-tippers. Try to get as much detail as possible. I would not advise them to intervene or go through rubbish on their own due to health and safety concerns. Leave that to Council officers, who will try and get names and addresses in the litter. The public should report any incidents of fly-tipping to the Council, Gardaí or a local councillor,” said Cllr Crossan.