THE NORTH Inner City is one of the most polluted areas in the country, with certain areas being used as “dumping grounds”.
According to a new report published by Irish Businesses Against Litter (IBAL) this week, several sites in the area are suffering from “long-term abuse and neglect” rather than just casual litter.
IBAL says a lack of community involvement explains why certain disadvantaged urban areas continue to be plagued by litter despite improvements elsewhere.
The report found there was a wide gap between towns and disadvantaged city areas, with the latter occupying the bottom six places in the ranking – including the North Inner City (ranking second from the bottom) and Ballymun ranking sixth from the bottom.
“We haven’t seen as much improvement in these social housing areas, where communities are often transient, social neglect is evident, and community groups and tidy towns committees are lacking compared to in mixed communities,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan.
Despite improvements in the North Inner City since the last survey five years ago, the inspectors highlighted a “dumping ground” near Sheriff St Park, rubbish along the canal pathway at Guild St and several sites suffering from “long-term abuse and neglect” rather than just casual litter.
“Dumping is on the increase,” Mr Horgan continued. “The more we ask people to pay for waste disposal the greater an issue it is likely to become. It may not be as widespread, but dumping is the new litter in many respects.”
Following the survey’s release, a city councillor has said that DCC should reintroduce bin collections to the North Inner City.
Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick also called for the introduction of a waiver scheme for households that have been left with no affordable collection service.
The Fianna Fail councillor said: “IBAL blames a lack of community involvement for the persistent littering in Dublin’s North Inner City, but that is simply untrue.
“The fact is Dublin’s North Inner City has a very strong and engaged community but it also has a considerable number of low income households which simply cannot afford to pay for private bin collections.”
