Calls for out of hours litter wardens after Dundalk falls nine places on IBAL report

Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District, Cllr Robert Nash has called for out of hours litter wardens in Dundalk.

It comes as it was revealed Dundalk had fallen nine places in the in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey. The town ranked 34th out of 40 towns and cities. 

Cllr Nash told the January meeting of Dundalk Municipal District that the report was "very disappointing" and noted an increase in dumping over the Christmas period. 

He said there needs to be more visibility of litter wardens and said it's "too easy" for people to litter. 

"Cameras on the Racecourse Road were removed, and then dumping seems to have returned. Who monitors these cameras?," he asked. 

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Cllr Nash said people were predominantly littering early hours of the morning and late at night. He said any litter patrol needs to be done out of hours.

He also noted an "awful lot of rubbish and drug paraphernalia" on Quay Street, in Dundalk.

The Fine Gael councillor also called for a roads crew to be sent to Peter Street weekly, and asked about the possibility of a new gate for the alleyway on the street to stop ongoing drug use. 

"It's happening regularly, where people are going down the alleyway using drugs and leaving syringes around," he said. 

However, Cllr Nash acknowledged that fire safety regulations may not permit a gate to be installed. 

Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Meenan said dog waste on the main street is also a huge problem. 

He said it is "so easy to pick up dog litter" and called it a "lousy thing to do". 

Patrick Callan, Executive Engineer with Louth County Council agreed that the IBAL ranking was disappointing, but said the council have already met on the issue and hope to have more regular meetings with Tidy Towns.

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