ONE of Cork County Council’s executive, Seamus De Faoite, admitted that part of him is totally disheartened by the fact that there is so much rubbish being dumped in the streets, the hedgerows, and the countryside.
Mr De Faoite had been praising recycling companies, Tidy Towns volunteers and GAA volunteers, who did remarkable work recently as part of a big clean-up that was ‘encouraging’.
But, after hearing councillors list the 40-plus bags of rubbish collected in a single day’s clean-up in each of their towns and villages, he expressed disappointment at the number of people still throwing rubbish out the windows of their cars and engaging in fly-tipping regardless of the facilities provided by the Council.
‘This is not a new issue. It is on ongoing, and we have to deal with this problem on a number of different levels, sometimes with the carrot, and sometimes the stick,’ he said.
The director said: ‘We will continue to work with as many Tidy Towns and community groups as we can to keep communities clean, but there has to be the stick as well so when evidence is found, we will prosecute.’
In 2024, he said wardens issued 21 fines for littering, but that figure, for the first three months of 2025, is already at 22, he said.
In response to some complaints from councillors about the opening times of certain civic amenity sites, he said: ‘The last thing we want to do is to have to close them for a day.’
Mr De Faoite confirmed that additional staff will be recruited this summer, before outlining the sheer volume of tonnage being collected by these sites throughout West Cork. He also referred to a time when Tidy Towns committees could rely on the efforts of Council operatives, the number of whom has since diminished, and the community support workers and FÁS workers.
‘These ageing committees don’t have that now,’ he added. ‘They deserve greater assistance from the local authority.’
Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) suggested that the Council’s environment directive could organise a ‘Day of Action’ similar to the recent clean-up campaign, and Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) suggested that the Council should ask the owners of fast-food outlets to encourage their customers to take their rubbish home, instead of leaving it at the side of the road.
