Kinsale’s takeaways urged to take away their rubbish

KINSALE’s Tidy Towns Group picked up 11 bags of fast food rubbish on the town’s Pier Rd recently, according to a local councillor, who is now calling on takeaway food businesses to play their part in keeping the town clean. At a recent online meeting of Bandon Kinsale Municipal District, Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) asked if a letter can be sent out to the food businesses to remind them to get their staff to go out and  pick up the excess rubbish left outside their premises.

‘I had the Tidy Towns Group on to me and they picked up 11 bags of rubbish on the Pier Rd recently and it was basically from the takeaways,’ said Cllr O’Sullivan.

‘It would only take 15 minutes for someone to go around with a rubbish bag and pick up the excess paper on the streets. It would also help our ground staff who are doing a great job around the town,’ she added.

Her colleague, Cllr Kevin Murphy said that when he visited the town recently he had never in his life seen so much rubbish.

‘There were heaps of rubbish dumped alongside the bins on Pier Road and it’s disgraceful stuff,’ he said.

‘We’re trying to promote Kinsale as a foodie town and attract tourists and to see this happening is very disappointing and an absolute shame,’ said Cllr Murphy.

‘Most of the rubbish on the ground had to do with the fast food industry and the pier was littered with rubbish. We’re going to have to ask them to make sure that rubbish doesn’t build up outside their premises and this should be done three or four times a day.’

Senior executive officer Mac Dara Ó h-Icí acknowledged that litter is an issue there, but added that they have great outdoor staff on the ground. 

He agreed that maybe a combined letter from themselves, the town’s Chamber and Kinsale Tidy Towns could be circulated to all  businesses to remind them of their responsibilities when it comes to rubbish.

‘Most businesses are very responsible and doing the right thing but this could be useful too,’ said Mr O’h-Icí.