Dead dog wrapped in carpet and thrown into west Donegal clothing bank

A dead dog wrapped in a carpet was just one example of the illegal dumping taking place in Donegal, with councillors on the guilty parties to face the consequences.

Cllr Michael McClafferty, Independent, said the issue was getting out of hand and backed the initial thoughts of Cllr Michael McMahon of Sinn Féin.

“There’s all sorts getting dumped now,” Falcarragh native McClafferty said. “Mattresses and even a dead dog. There was a dead allisation wrapped up in carpet and thrown into the clothing bank down my way. It’s stand clear at the minute.

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“People are throwing out bags of rubbish, tires, televisions, fridges, everything. There are places to go with these things. I was driving home and saw a vodka bottle broken on the N56 and pulled in to get it. It’s beyond me why people throw out bottles and tins when there are bottle banks in every village and town now. We need to get staff and cameras.

Bundoran-based Cllr McMahon said that cameras must be installed at bottle banks and anyone found to be dumping illegally need to be brought before the courts.

“A year and a half ago, we were led to believe that the government signed off on cameras at bottle banks,” he said. “These bottle banks are very necessary, but the dumping at these bottle banks is out of control, and I’m wondering why these cameras haven’t been put up.

“We take a look at the roadsides, and it’s totally unacceptable - and we’re chatting about bringing in tourism? There is no way of getting around this, I’m told. Tidy towns groups are willing to tidy the sides of the roads, but there’s no insurance to cover that, we’re told. People feel passionate about their villages and towns.

“We have no convictions over dumping. I had an incident there at Cashelard last week where there were 27 tires dumped into the side of the road. This is totally unacceptable. The couple of litter wardens we have - like the one in my area, Martin Burke - the amount of work he does is unbelievable. We need cameras installed, and we need extra litter wardens, and we need people summoned.”