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Angry citizens want litter louts ‘named and shamed' in media

July 7th, 2017 7:05 AM

By Jackie Keogh

Litter problems, include the scene that greeted Schull visitors recently.

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Communities in West Cork are taking to Facebook to name and shame litter louts.

COMMUNITIES in West Cork are taking to Facebook to name and shame litter louts.

In Schull, community activist Pauline Cotter posted a photograph of what should be an attractive seating area in the village, but instead it shows an area strewn with empty beer bottles, cans and chip wrappers.

Meanwhile, in Skibbereen, Cian O’Mahony, who works in the local tourist office, posted a photograph showing Main Street littered with empty pizza boxes early on a Sunday morning.

In her post, Pauline said: ‘This is maddening.’ And she issued a warning: ‘Lads … you are on camera and a complaint has been made, so expect the call for community service.’

In Skibbereen, Cian’s post said: ‘Main Street this morning. Disgraceful. The owner or operator of this business should be made clean this up.’

Raman Preet Sings, who has been managing Apache Pizza in Skibbereen for the last six months, told The Southern Star that he and his workers always clean the street when closing up at night.

However, last Saturday night, he said six or seven men started a fight on the premises and were ‘kicked out.’ 

Because the men were hanging around outside, he said he left in a hurry and did not clean the street on this occasion. He said the cleaning was done by Cork County Council employees and he offered to show The Southern Star the CCTV footage verifying his claims.

Meanwhile, a lot of people took to Facebook to discuss the best way of tackling Schull’s litter problem.

One woman said the sight of the rubbish makes her blood boil. Another suggested that more bins should be provided, but another simply pointed out that not only are there bins nearby, but there’s a bottle bank 20m away.

One woman said: ‘It’s gone on for long enough … about time to name and shame, especially given that it’s on CCTV.’

Others agreed, saying: ‘It is time to put a stop to this indiscriminate dumping. We try to showcase the beauty of Schull and this is what our youth are doing.’

One person who engaged in the debate went so far as to suggest: ‘Post the CCTV pic and tag them and their parents – that should sort it out.’

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