Donegal bottle bank 'a disgrace' - councillor calls for it to be relocated or closed completely

The bottle bank at Drumlonagher in Donegal Town needs to be relocated as a matter of urgency. 

That is according to Cllr Tom Conaghan (Ind) who did not hold back in voicing his frustration at the September meeting of the Municipal District (MD) of Donegal.

Cllr Conaghan put down the following motion: “That this MD receive a definite time frame for the removal of the recycling centre at Drumlonagher and the opening of the new recycling facility at a new location in Donegal Town. The current facility is not fit for purpose.”

The councillor had on numerous occasions drawn attention to the poor condition of the surface at the bottle bank. It is repeatedly damaged by heavy vehicles using the site to park.

“It is being used as a place where people park overnight,” said Cllr Conaghan. “Even during the day there are times you wouldn’t even get into it.”

Cllr Conaghan said he was very disappointed with a reply he had received to previous comments. 

It had been understood that an alternative site was being considered but that is no longer the case.
“For the bottle bank to be where it is, that is a disgrace,” he said. “And now it looks as if I am going to have to out and look for a site, which I am not. It falls on the council to do something about this.”
Referring to personal comments made on Facebook, Cllr Conaghan who has long been trying to get the bottle bank moved, said: “I am not a bit worried about what is happening on Facebook because anyone who is on Facebook all the time is not too busy.”

He said the bottle bank was sitting in the shadow of the new health centre.

“I and other councillors fought hard for what is a state of the art health centre,” he said. 

“The bottle bank needs to go, and the sooner the better that the council did something about it. 

“The only other thing is to close it. If push comes to shove it wouldn’t be too hard to close. I am not making any threats or suggestions but it has been told to me that it could be closed very easily.”

The motion was supported by Cllr Michael McMahon (SF) who has previously voiced similar concerns about bottle banks in Bundoran. 

“They are a necessary evil,” said Cllr McMahon.

“Every bottle bank that you look at, there is all sorts of garbage thrown on it and it is left there. It is undoing all the good work that Tidy Towns and groups like that are doing. 

“If there was a few prosecutions that would put an end to that.”