'No decent person would do that,' strong response promised on illegal dumping in Thurles

Tipperary County Council’s Eamon Lonergan has promised a “strong response” to the dumping of rubbish on roadsides and hedgerows.

At this week’s sitting of the Thurles/Templemore Municipal District Council, he said dumping and littering were a significant problem.

He said it needed to be addressed if they wanted investment in the town.

“We are aware of it, and we will have a strong response. We can’t be seen as a road of dumps,” said Mr Lonergan.

He was responding to Thurles councillor Seamus Hanafin’s call for the District to tidy the roadsides.

He said every approach road in Thurles was littered with rubbish. Cllr Sean Ryan supported Cllr Hanafin’s call saying it was “an enormous task”.

Mr Lonergan said there was a behaviour and awareness piece as people just throw rubbish out their car windows.
PROBLEM

“It’s a problem as bad as I’ve seen,” said Mr Lonergan. Cllr Hanafin replied that it was more than that.

He said people are throwing whole bags of rubbish on the sides of roads.

The bags are breaking and the contents are strewn around the area.

He said there must be a way to make an example of people who dump.

“No decent person would do that,” said Cllr Hanafin.

Cllr Shane Lee suggested CCTV be installed in areas where there are repeated incidents.

However, Mr Lonergan said while CCTV could be used for enforcement, it was hard to find places on roadsides to install cameras.

Cllr Noel Coonan suggested contacting An Garda Síochána.

“It’s a disgrace what’s happening,” said Cllr Coonan.

Mr Lonergan agreed that was a good idea.

The Director of Services said the council is currently looking at options around machinery for clean-ups.

He said they were engaging with local businesses and are encouraging the public to get involved with upcoming spring clean-ups.

However, he acknowledged that even with that, the issue would come up again.

He promised Tipperary County Council was exploring solutions to address illegal dumping.

“It’s a poor use of public funds for us to clean up roadsides,” said Mr Lonergan.