Dumping in two Mayo locations on Bonfire Night was work of 'minority'

Mayo County Council is hoping to encourage people in local communities to take a stand against those who try to use bonfires as a means of free waste disposal after several incidents throughout the county leading up to Bonfire Night on June 23rd last.

Council staff removed large, bulky items of furniture from bonfires in Achill and Ballina after receiving several complaints from members of the public.

A large pile of rubbish was removed from Ballina, which had been slowly building up in the week before Bonfire Night. Vehicles had started to pull up and tip rubbish out onto the footpath until the council intervened.

Elsewhere, in Achill, waste was removed from beside the greenway carpark. Some of the items dumped included mattresses, couches, tyres, lawnmowers, electronic items and household bin bags full of assorted waste. The burning of a number of these items generates large amounts of toxic fumes and hazardous byproducts.

Patsy Winters, executive scientist with the environment section of Mayo Co Council, said it is the minority, rather than the majority of people, who engage in this behaviour, but even the minority can have a huge impact.

“A small handful are ruining it for the majority. It is just a minority of people but they could be stockpiling waste and are then burning a year’s waste in one night.

“Dumping attracts dumping. One person dumps out stuff they shouldn’t have and more people then thought it was a good idea,” she said.

She said the Council has no intention of trying to do away with the tradition of bonfires on June 23 but they try to encourage clean bonfires only.

“We have done a lot of good work on this over the years generating awareness, to get the message out there that something like a couch isn’t toxic until its burned.

“We’ve run this hand-in-hand with bulky waste collection improvements and the message is starting to get out that a bonfire isn’t a good way to get rid of your waste.”

Ms Winters said it is discouraging that so much of the council budget goes towards cleaning up bonfires when it could be spent elsewhere. However, she added there are good examples of local communities coming together to monitor their bonfire sites to ensure there is no unwanted waste added to the bonfire. She pointed to one area in Ballina as a "shining example" in this regard.

“In an ideal world, there would be an environmental officer at every bonfire. One community in Ballina got sick of people dumping and set up a vigil at their bonfire and took a stand against people dumping.

“We would like to see this happening at every bonfire and perhaps meet with local representatives to ask them to adopt a zero-tolerance attitude against dumping bulky items in bonfires.

“It is a handful of people who come with the rubbish and ruin it for everyone else, families and kids coming to the bonfire. Ninety-nine per cent of people in Achill and Ballina don’t want this,” she said.