Illegal dumping and loud cars cause distress in Slieve Blooms

THE NORMALLY tranquil atmosphere of the idyllic Slieve Bloom Mountains is being repeatedly disrupted by illegal dumping and excessively loud race cars, people living in the region have told the Tribune.

The damage caused by illegal car racing and the new phenomenon of “drifting” (a type of stunt driving which is illegal on public roads) has left scars across the mountain's scenic roads and amenity car parks, which have seen a boom in popularity for hill walkers and cyclists in the last decade.

Local people told the Tribune this week that the issues mostly surface at weekends, when large groups of loud and modified cars congregate on the mountain at night and early morning hours – a sound which echoes across the mountains and causes a noise disturbance for people and farm livestock.

The stone monument erected in the look-out point of the JI Fanning Pass was dislodged from its foundation and dragged into the centre of the car park, where cars performed drifting stunts around it. Subsequently Laois County Council ingeniously embedded the damaged monument into the rock-face – however, even this has not prevented vandals from further damaging the monument only last week when it was broken beyond repair.

A bank of heather in the Glendine area was set alight last month when vandals set a car on fire after crashing it off the road into the embankment, heightening concerns of a repeat of the forest fires which engulfed swathes of the dense forestry on the northern side of the mountain range.

The issue has been raised at local authority meetings, most recently in County Laois where Independent Councillor, James Kelly, described recent incidents as “disgraceful” and implored the Council to help people living and working in the area pleading for the issue to be tackled.

Local people told this newspaper that instances of illegal dumping are causing major concern and described it as “soul destroying” to see one illegal dumpsite and another reappear within days. All types of domestic rubbish is repeatedly dumped in one of the most scenic beauty spots of the Midlands, the local Slieve Bloom Association said.

The mountains, which span Offaly and Laois and draw visitors from around the world, are also a place of work for many farmers and forestry workers, who said the level of damage is escalating and becoming more frequent on all parts of the mountains.

The JI Fanning Pass, created in 1995 and named after the visionary man who wanted to open the mountains for visitors, is becoming more often abused, local farmers said.

Tom Ryan, who farms a portion of mountainous land on the approach roads to the Glendine valley, said his livestock were recently disturbed by fireworks, which occured in the height of the Covid-19 restrictions.

“I've called the Guards and in fairness to them you'd see them up here often enough, but it's impossible for them to be here all the time,” he said. “Speedbumps in the car parks would stop them - the fireworks went on for an hour or two and they left their rubbish all over the place”, he said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when the mountains were outside the range of the very few who live nearby, significant damage was caused to several local authority barriers which were unearthed and twisted beyond repair.

“Damage like that would have taken heavy machines”, Tony Reddan, who transports felled trees from the Slieve Blooms said.

Machines have been damaged that were left overnight on the mountain and have cost thousands to put right again”, he said.
Notably, local people have also reported several of the signs directing motorists to the Slieve Bloom Mountains have mysteriously disappeared, or have been altered to give the wrong direction and neither replaced or corrected by the local authority.

Signs in the Offaly area have been disturbed by pranksters, with Council road signs in areas including Roscomroe, Camross and Glendine changed to provide incorrect directions – a worrying situation for tourists and visitors unfamiliar with the mountains winding roads.

The number of visitors to the area is expected to increase for the remaining months of the summer holiday period and local councillors hope to create a rewarding experience for domestic tourists seeking out new places to visit in Ireland.

Kinnitty has seen a spike in visitors who have flocked to the picturesque village this summer to enjoy the mountain's biking trails and popular cafe, bars and nearby hotel Laois Councillor Conor Bergin said that as the Slieve Bloom Mountains are one of the region's main tourist attractions, we must protect them.

“It really is in an appalling state and it has become a blackspot for anti-social behaviour. With many people opting for staycations this year because of Covid-19, we want to attract people to the area and the Slieve Blooms are one of our most treasured amenities” he said.