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09 Sept 2025

Leitrim clothes bank becoming a thing of the past with charity shops also refusing some clothes

Cllr Róisín Kenny said that "fast fashion" is contributing to the issue. "You can buy a haul of clothes from Shein or Temu for half nothing and it puts a lot less value on clothes".

Leitrim clothes bank becoming a thing of the past with charity shops also refusing some clothes

All textile banks removed from Leitrim County Council bring bank locations, a meeting heard

Reporter:

Claire Corrigan

22 Jul 2025 5:33 PM

Clothes banks in Leitrim could be a thing of the past, it was revealed at the Ballinamore municipal district meeting this week. 

Cllr Brendan Barry was told by the council that "due to changes in the global textile market, our textile collection provider was no longer able to provide the contracted service" as of January this year and removed their textile banks from all Leitrim County Council bring bank locations with the issue being experienced by most local authorities and the department actively looking at options to ensure continuity of this service. 
In the interim, the council advised people that there are various charity shops and textile banks located around the county. 
Cllr Barry said the clothes banks were removed in January and "this shows how things have changed. It went from the council getting paid for the clothes, to then a neutral operation and now it is costing the council."
He said that he was aware that charity shops are now "turning away textiles because it's actually costing money to get them brought away and it might be good to get the message out there that that charity shops may have to incur costs. People should ensure they try and bring good stuff to the charity shops so it doesn't cost them money. Hopefully, a solution can be found to this issue."
Cllr Gary Prior supported the motion saying it is "certainly a service that will be missed in every community; I know that there is still one in our own community; that company is from Northern Ireland and they emptied it recently and the blue bin. Maybe there may be a route there for it."
Cllr Róisín Kenny said that "fast fashion" is contributing to the issue. "You can buy a haul of clothes from Shein or Temu for half nothing and it puts a lot less value on clothes and then you have mountains of clothes in the poorer parts of the world where it's all exported to. People should be encouraged to buy a better quality of clothes that will last longer and be encouraged to use charity shops."

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