240 community clean ups have taken place in Offaly

240 community clean-ups have taken place since the start of the year, with the amount of litter being

collected by local volunteers, and disposed of by Offaly County Council (OCC) nearing a total of 22

tonnes, the November meeting of Birr Municipal District was told last week.

The Environmental Report to the meeting outlined that, since January 2023, The Environment Section has

taken legal action against nine individuals for “illegal dumping and environmental pollution”. All cases

were investigated by the Litter Team, and were taken to court for breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997,

and/or Waste Management Act, 1996. Convictions ranged from fines to prison sentences.

A teacher training seminar with An Taisce was held on October 17th to advise schools on their journey

towards applying for their Green Flag. OCC also supports schools by providing funding for specific

environmental projects such as the ReLove Fashion programme with the Rediscovery Centre, which

aims to address sustainable fashion initiatives at second level schools.

Offaly County Council was approved by the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications

(DECC) for a grant of €72,500, for three projects which will tackle the issues surrounding illegal dumping.

These projects are: cleaning up of illegal dumping and litter blackspots in Offaly, a public awareness

campaign promoting environmental issues, and the provision of five solar litter bins in Birr MD.

Minor works have been carried out in Clonmacnoise Cemetery in the form of a “major clean-up”.

Councillor Peter Ormond noted that Shinrone graveyard could also be in need of a clean-up.