Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has welcomed confirmation from Wicklow County Council that they are to finally take action and clean up the illegal dumping that has been ongoing at The Murrough in Wicklow Town. The council are to obtain quotations for the cleanup of the area and it is to be prioritised.
Deputy Brady said “Unfortunately the illegal dumping at The Murrough has been ongoing now over a considerable period of time. What appears to be a mixture of commercial and household rubbish is been brought to the scenic location in Wicklow Town and dumped, with most of it being burnt. I welcome confirmation from the council to me that they are now going to give priority to having the dumped waste at the Murrough cleaned up and that they are getting quotations to do so.”
“Due to the non action in addressing the serious illegal dumping at the environmentally protected area, I’ve had to report it to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. That pressure now seems to have been critical is getting the council to finally act and have the site cleaned up.”
“The Murrough is not just a beautiful location that’s widely used by many; it’s also an environmentally important area. It is covered by National and European protection designations such as ‘Special Protection Area’, in 2018 it was designated a ‘Special Area of Conservation’, the area is also a proposed ‘National Heritage Area’ and ‘Flora Protection Order’. So the illegal dumping that’s ongoing there is destroying a valuable public amenity and an environmentally important area.”
Deputy Brady concluded “Whilst I welcome the moves by the council to have the illegal dumping at the Murrough cleaned up, measures must be put in place to stop it happening again. Vehicular access to the area must be restricted and CCTV must also be installed to ensure we don’t have this problem reoccurring. The perpetrators of this environmental vandalism must also be held to account and they must face the full riggers of the law.”
