Tragumna's litter louts come under scrutiny of locals

FRUSTRATED homeowners in Tragumna are planning to name and shame the litter louts who are destroying their community.

A group of residents set up the Tragumna Community Alert Group in 2016 to operate a text alert system and to try and prevent indiscriminate dumping in their locality.

Mrs Gina O’Donovan, a spokesperson for the group, told The Southern Star: ‘Since then, we have been organising regular clean-ups, over a four-mile radius.’

However, she said: ‘The problem of illegal dumping seems to be getting progressively worse and now we are having to handle large bags of domestic rubbish being dumped along our quiet country roads.’ Mrs O’Donovan said Cork County Council, as well as the waste collection and recycling firm of KWD, have been very supportive of their endeavours by providing them with supplies such as red collection bags, gloves and hi-vis jackets. And she said they also collect the waste.

But as the problem continues to worsen, the spokesperson said they have become increasingly forensic in their handling of the problem and the latest haul has provided clues – in the form of names on receipts – of three possible culprits.

‘In the past,’ she said, ‘we were very discouraged by the lack of prosecutions, but we hope this evidence will give the gardaí, or the Council, enough evidence to bring a successful prosecution.’ Mrs O’Donovan said: ‘This type of behaviour is deeply irresponsible and downright unfair. Why don’t people take their rubbish home, or dispose of it correctly? This is such a beautiful part of the world, it doesn’t deserve  it.’