Disgust and anger across Donegal at post-Christmas increase in fly tipping and littering

The problem of fly-tipping has reared its ugly head once again across Donegal. 

This post Christmas period has seen an appalling amount of rubbish being dumped on the roadside around the county. 

Indeed, it is only thanks to community heroes going out and gathering this rubbish that our roadsides, beaches and other public amenities do not look an awful lot worse. 

A tourist was even seen lifting bottles that were discarded at the Old Abbey graveyard in Donegal Town in recent days.

Cllr Tom Conaghan (Ind): “I can’t believe that the roadsides going out towards Barnesmore Gap are as bad as ever again. It is very disheartening for the people who went out and gathered everything up there before. 

“I appeal to the people who are doing this to not dispose of their rubbish in this way. It is horrible to see and it is bad for the environment.”

This type of roadside fly-tipping is taking place all around the county.

Anyone who is not signed up for bin collection can take their rubbish to Bryson Recycling centres around the county and dispose of their waste properly. It costs €5 per bag of household rubbish.

In the Lough Eske area where dumping remains a significant issue, an employee of Lough Eske Castle Hotel gathered several bags of rubbish that were thrown into the forest.

Garrett McGroary has come in for much praise locally for his efforts which were supported by Lough Eske Castle with the provision of a skip.

A number of beach and shore cleans were also carried out in recent days. These included a clean-up of Murvagh Beach organised by Donegal Dragons on Saturday and a beach clean at Rossnowlagh run by Friends of Rossnowlagh. 

Mayor of Donegal Town Pauric Kennedy took part in the clean-up at Murvagh. While there was a range of litter including a lot of rope, there was a particularly disgusting find that was all too common.

Mayor Kennedy said: “We found an unbelievable amount of dog foul bags on the beach. I find it hard to understand why people would pick up their dog foul into a bag and then just leave it on the beach.”

Members of Donegal Dragons also did a shore and bay clean-up in Donegal Town while out kayaking. Among the many items of waste that they removed from the water was a traffic cone, as well as numerous plastic bottles that would otherwise have been washed out with the tide.

Cllr Conaghan said: “It is a shame that people have to go out and pick up other people’s rubbish but I want to thank all those who do the beach cleans and pick up litter from the roadside.”