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Waterford man shames council into collecting rubbish from beach

Waterford man shames council into collecting rubbish from beach

A man who has spent twelve years voluntarily tidying a Tramore beach has hit out at the council for neglecting the strand.

Ollie Stapleton has been picking up litter on the beach and bagging it then leaving it out for collection.

However he says much of the rubbish, which is washed in from the sea, is never picked up by the local authority.

He says council staff take away some of the bags left out but not all. "They will promise to go down and occasionally they would go down but, they take half the stuff that's gathered and leave the rest. The bags would then deteriorate and I would pick up what's scattered again." He added that "seven years I was told that the rubbish would be collected on a monthly basis but that didn't materialise". Ollie says

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Ollie says action is only taken on the rubbish when special events are being held near the strand. "They would collect it occasionally when they're shamed into collecting it. I've contacted local politicians and they have done their best to have it removed. It's only when there's a run down there or when people are down there - when somebody would see it - that's when it's taken away."

Ollie says he's happy to continue volunteering his services for bagging the rubbish - as long as the council start monthly collections. "I was full sure if someone was prepared to give them a hand they would chip in and give me a hand. I expect someone to say that they will put a system in place, within the next couple of weeks, to remove any seaborne rubbish that comes in and we'll look after this place once and for all. It's one beautiful place, if we didn't have it we would be looking for it."

Sinn Fein Councillor Breda Brennan says commitment has now been given for the collection of the litter at Saleens: "This is absolutely great news because this man has been voluntarily collecting rubbish from the back strand for years. It's not a big request of his, it's just that when it is gathered that it's collected in a timely manner so it's not allowed to get scattered. I mean he gathers it, it's in bags, all the city and county council have to do is collect it, put it in a lorry and take it away."

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