Bag-loads of litter collected in Dodder Valley Park after June bank holiday
By Mary Dennehy
THIS is the volume of rubbish collected by volunteers in Dodder Valley Park on the June Bank Holiday Sunday.
Last weekend, volunteers took to Dodder Valley Park and collected bag-loads of litter, a large volume of which was the left-overs of people drinking in the local park.
The bag-loads of litter above were collected in Dodder Valley Park over the bank holiday weekend
In a Facebook post, Tallaght Community Council shared the image and said: “Not one sighting of An Garda Síochána foot patrol or South Dublin County Council litter warden while hundreds drink alcohol openly in Dodder Valley Park.
“This rubbish was collected by volunteers.
“A missed opportunity to issue litter fines, re-educate some park users and enforce laws prohibiting drinking in public.”
Volunteers also collected six bags of rubbish from Aylesbury Park on Saturday and Sunday, with similar reports of drinking litter emerging from other communities across the area.
When contacted by The Echo, Teresa Walsh, Director of Environment, Water and Climate Change said: “I understand that volunteers collected litter and illegally dumped material from Dodder Valley Park and left the bags of rubbish at the Dodder Valley Old Bawn park gate.
“As soon as the council was made aware of the bagged collected materials, arrangements were made for a Public Realm crew to collect the rubbish.”
Rubbish picked up in the park in Aylesbury
She added: “To address the illegal dumping activities, litter wardens and Public Realm crews have increased patrols and removed the illegal dumped items at the earliest opportunities, whilst taking the necessary health and safety precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“Through South Dublin County Council Social Media, the council has sought to highlight the current increase in dumping and has requested the public to play their part.”
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre O’Donovan told The Echo that she is “inundated” with calls concerning litter in parks and gangs congregating.
Cllr O’ Donovan believes that gardai should have the power to issue on-the-spot fines to deter large numbers of people drinking together in public parks, as this activity breaches Government Covid-19 measures.
She has also continued her calls for the council to introduce additional bins in Dodder Valley Park.
“As a community we need to come together on this”, Cllr O’Donovan said.
Tallaght District superintendent told The Echo: “We are trying to encourage people [not to drink in large groups in public].
“In a lot of cases when gardai approach groups this works, enforcement is very much a last resource.”
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