Local Faces: John Kiberd
By Aimee Walsh
John Kiberd is one of the dedicated driving forces behind Tallaght Litter Mugs, a society of volunteers that organise regular clean ups and encourage positive change.
John Kiberd, known to many as ‘John Litter Mug’ grew up in Finglas but moved to Tallaght when he married his wife Carol. After many walks with his dogs through Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght, he quickly recognised a need for change.
John Kiberd praises the large number of people that are doing fantastic work, trying to make a difference
“I spent a lot of time in Tallaght when I was going out with Carol for 19 years. I used to think that the park had so much potential, it is such a shame that is so littered.
“I just thought that it’s a pity someone doesn’t set up a group. Shortly after I had that thought, I came across a group called the Litter Mugs who had been in action for about a year or two before that. I got involved with them and then I kind of hijacked it.
“We did the logo and we got high-vis vests and got better organised. We organised regular clean ups and got a Facebook page going.” John explained.
Usually, the Litter Mugs do organised regular clean-ups in Sean Walsh Park. They also collaborate with another group called Dodder Action and focus further up the stream into Killinarden and Jobstown for clean-ups.
Although John has been a driving force behind the Litter Mugs since joining, his passion for climate action and positive changes to help the environment has not always been at the forefront.
John Kiberd
“I would have to say I was an environmental thug to be honest with you up to a point but that was because of my generation, we thought plastic was the best thing since sliced bread.
Plastic was fantastic it kept things fresh, but somewhere along the way it looks like we went completely over to plastic, you go down the supermarket aisles and everything is plastic, particularly shampoos and cosmetics.
“I saw that when I was doing my litter picking there was so much plastic in the environment, every two out of three rubbish pieces are plastic. I said, we have got to do something to save the planet to leave something behind for our kids and grandkids because we cannot keep going at this rate.”
One of the projects initiated by John is a stepping stone forest, which was approved for a trial and saw 3,000 copies of The Echo laid down on the soil in Sean Walsh Park as part of preparations in December.
John ‘LitterMug’ Kiberd, can be regularly seen litter picking in Sean Walsh Park
“Ireland has one of the lowest levels of forestation. We have 11% where the European average is in excess of 30%.
“I was looking around in the park one day and thought that there is lots and lots of green grass here, and the mechanical machinery used to mow it on a regular basis are spewing out C02 just to keep grass mowed – and grass from a biodiversity point of view is useless.
“Whereas if we just put in forests, they are at least 30 times more biodiverse. I started campaigning with the council asking would they consider putting in tennis court sized forests, and to my surprise the council agreed to do a trial of three different forests.
“We were supposed to be planting the trees on March 27, but we have to push it back to October. My long-term plan is that lots of these will be rolled out right across south county Dublin.”
John Kiberd
John has recently enrolled in the ‘Climate Ambassador Programme’, run by An Taisce. The programme encourages people who are interested in the environment and climate change to become advocates to promote the idea of taking action.
“I only just started it this year, but it is an eye opener. There are floating islands the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean that are just plastic. There are huge amounts of plastic out there, it is staggering to believe.”
As well as being a crucial part of the Litter Mugs, John is also a very involved member of The Tallaght Community Council, who are responsible for organising flagship events for the community such as Tallafest and the Tallaght Person of the Year Awards.
John Kiberd
John says he is aware that he is not the only one out there working hard to ensure we have clean parks, and that there is a large number of dedicated people in the Tallaght Community doing the same thing.
“One thing that I have learned here that there is a huge number of people in Tallaght that are just doing fantastic work, and nobody hears about it. That hugely inspires me to keep going and that I am not the only one out there trying to make a difference.”
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