No bins to form part of the Rock of Dunamaise tourism upgrade

The famous Rock of Dunamaise monument in Laois is getting a new visitor carpark and toilets but there are no bins coming with them.

Laois County Council has explained the eco friendly reason why.

“Will there be bins, managed by the council? It seems a small issue but it's important to residents,” Cllr Vivienne Phelan from the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District said at the April meeting of Laois County Council.

“Sometimes when you provide bins in remote areas, rather than solve a problem you create a dumping issue. At the moment we don't intend to install bins. If there is an issue we can monitor it,” the Director of Services Simon Walton said.

Meanwhile the council says it is just about ready to put back up CCTV cameras at dumping blackspots across the county.

They had to take them down over GDPR laws five years ago. Read more on that here.

"The final GDPR requirements have been dealth with. We are in progress to facilitate the erection of cameras," Director of Services Carmel McNicholl said at the same meeting. 

See plans for the Rock of Dunamaise, to be preceeded by a huge archeological dig. 

Cllr Ollie Clooney had sought the update.

"I am concerned at the council collecting 44 tonnes of waste so far this year. You have to have data protection but where dumping goes on you have to have cameras. If they know they are there, they won't dump. I'd like to know how much these cleanups are costing," he said.

Laois County Council issued 21 litter fines in the first three months of 2025. It gathered up 44.22 tonnes of dumped waste in the countryside. That figure does not include the huge public effort of Clean Up Laois Week in April, with figures to follow.