Writes Ciaran Dineen
Councillor Jack White (FG) has called on businesses to lend further support to keeping the Main Street of Carrigaline clean, suggesting that the town is often left in a “dirty state” after the weekends.
In a motion during April’s meeting of the Carrigaline Municipal District (MD), Cllr White asked his colleagues if they would agree to writing a letter to local businesses on Main Street, asking them if they would help to reduce the pressure on council staff and the Carrigaline Tidy Towns group by dedicating “some staff time to clean up outside their businesses.”
While Cllr White acknowledged that most business do make a huge effort, his motion initially highlighted some premises where litter outside was an issue. He said that the request came from a position of frustration of Tidy Town’s volunteers and based off other comments made to him about the uncleanliness of the Main Street at the beginning of each week, following weekends in particular. He acknowledged that as a local business owner in Carrigaline himself, he understands the demands of running a business and also recognised the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make Carrigaline a friendly environment to shop and socialise in.
However, more needs to be done according to Cllr White, who said that on many occasions the streets become filled with litter and waste as people are leaving takeaways and other establishments late at night and leaving rubbish on the ground. Speaking in the Council Chambers, he said. “I’m a business owner on Main Street and I’m very aware of staffing issues and costs but I think if you have a premises on Main Street you have a responsibility to try and keep the area outside your business tidy and if every business did that, or improved a little bit it would make the job much easier for Council staff or voluntary groups like the Tidy Towns.”
Cllr Michael Paul Murtagh (FG), supported his colleague saying he did not see any harm in sending such a letter to businesses considering that it is in the interests of all of Carrigaline for the streets to be clean. Cllr Seámus McGrath (FF) noted that in his belief there are some businesses that are not “living up to their responsibilities”, but said the MD would need to be careful in their messaging on such a topic as “all the food and public houses are certainly not part of the problem and we need to be clear about that.”
Cllr Ben Dalton O’Sullivan (Ind) made a similar point to that of Cllr McGrath but nevertheless supported the principle of the message that Cllr White was trying to send. Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) also supported the call, offering her own solution which worked in Crosshaven village following an intervention made to local businesses. Finally, Cllr Marcia D’Alton (Ind) added that promoting a “collaborative message” to local businesses, outlining their responsibilities that is in legislation would be a good idea.
Senior Engineer in the Carrigaline MD, Madeline Healy, highlighted the relevant legislation to the Councillors, with Cllr D’Alton suggesting that perhaps a letter to businesses could reflect on the legislation rather than state word by word what the requirements are for those operating on Main Street.
It was agreed that the MD would liaise with the Anti-Littering Unit before sending a letter to the local businesses.
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