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Illegal dumping mars Grania's Gap
05.03.08
IT'S A road best known
as a shortcut between Buncrana and Muff, linking the
west and east coasts of Inishowen. Cutting a
passageway through the impressive Scalp and Eskaheen
mountains, Grania’s Gap provides some of the most
beautiful scenery in Inishowen for those who follow
its winding lofty path.
Yet it is a route plagued by the curse of roadside
dumping. Time and again the evidence of illegal
dumping is to be seen strewn along the side of the
road in the shadow of the mountains.
Vincent Doherty of Coillte, the forestry service,
says the problem is “worse than ever”. Widespread
fly tipping is blighting the area and Coillte must
pay men to clean up these rat-infested dumps and
remove the rubbish to the council’s landfill site.
While a number of cases against fly-tippers are
currently going through the courts, people feel bold
enough to tip electrical wire and block a public
road used by local farmers in Carnamoyle on the
Buncrana side of Grania’s Gap. |
“Whoever did this
stripped everything of value – lead or copper – out
of the casing dumped what was left on the public
road,” Mr Doherty said.
The electrical wire is just one instance of illegal
dumping. The Inishowen Independent drove from
Buncrana towards Grania’s Gap and cut back alongside
Scalp Mountain towards Tooban on |
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on Sunday. The amount
of roadside dumping on view was shocking.
Some of the dumping is blatant, those who dumped
hardly taking the effort to clear the roadside.
Hundreds of empty cans and bottles, spilling out of
black bin bags, spoil the countryside some distance
from the bridge at Tullydish. According to a local
resident who contacted this newspaper, there is
strong evidence in the bags that the perpetrators
“didn’t come a million miles to do their dirty
work.”
Further along the road, heading back towards Tooban
there is further evidence of illegal dumping, some
of it just yards from Coillte signs warning of
€1,900 fines for dumping offences. Included among
the rubbish is the remains of a trampoline. “Suffice
to say,” commented the local resident, “It didn’t
fly out of someone’s gardens, clear the treetops and
land a couple of yards from the roadside.”
Signs warn potential dumpers that CCTV cameras “may
be in action”. However, the failure of the council
to appoint a litter warden in Inishowen means that
fly-tippers are, by and large, going undetected.
Fines for those caught are a desultory €150,
although people brought to court may be fined up to
€3,000.
A number of prosecutions are in the pipeline with
the authorities using photographic evidence to make
their cases. (Story: Inishowen Independent) |
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