As the persistent issue of dumping continues to be the source of much ire within the community, Athlone Town Mayor, Cllr Aengus O’Rourke was to the fore on Thursday of last week when he personally acted upon the illegal disposal of a fridge freezer in a local housing estate.
“On Thursday of last week, a resident of a quiet housing estate in Athlone singlehandedly pulled a tall fridge-freezer, that he no longer wanted, down the road in broad daylight.
“He was heading towards a ditch to illegally dispose of his waste, but the fridge freezer, laden with rotten food, became too heavy for him so he dumped it in the open green space within the housing estate.
“As he dragged the fridge down through the quiet residential street lined with eight houses either side of him, he was approached by residents and asked to return it. He was very rude and very dismissive when asked to do so.
“I was made aware of the incident on Friday morning, so, in tandem with the Litter Warden I visited his house and knocked at his door, but he refused to come out. I left a note in his door asking him to take his fridge freezer back.
“On Saturday morning I returned to the area, the fridge freezer was still resting in the place where it was dumped. I had a trolley with me so, with a friend, we lifted the heavy appliance and wheeled it back to the front door of the perpetrator.
“My decision to bring it back was borne out of pure frustration and exacerbation, and I’ll be honest, I was angry at the blatant and reckless attitude of this individual, the manner in which he dismissed his neighbours, the disrespect he had for the area and for the people around him.
“I have always been consistent with regard to dumping issues, I get involved, I volunteer and I recently launched my own anti-dumping initiative called the ‘Report Illegal Dumping’ (RID ) campaign. This time of the year I volunteer almost every weekend doing community clean-ups and litter picks. So, you could say I am a ‘doer’ rather than a ‘finger wagger’.
“We have plenty of ‘finger wagging’ at Council meetings and in the newspapers but not enough gritty action and definitely not enough hard hitting sanctions for people involved in illegal dumping,” Cllr O’Rourke stated.
The Town Mayor acknowledged that the local community is unfortunately in the midst of a dumping crisis at this time.
“As an elected public representative, and currently the Mayor of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District, I do see it as my role to show leadership in matters of crisis, and no-one can argue that we are in the midst of a dumping crisis at this point in time.
“’The Fridge’ incident certainly struck a chord with people all over the country. My social media posts escalated and all weekend I was receiving phone calls and text messages not only from people in Athlone and Westmeath but from all over Ireland, I have never experienced anything like it.
“While this was just one fridge freezer and one dumper in one estate I think everyone in Ireland can relate to the incident. The actions taken by this dumper and his brazen, nasty attitude is probably typical of those who choose to vandalise our environment on a regular basis.
“I would love to name and shame these people but the law currently prevents me from doing so. I have had to tread very carefully in all I have done in this case.
“In the absence of a ‘naming and shaming’ scenario, the only way to deal with such individuals is to hit them in the pocket, fine them hard and keep fining them if they persist with this behaviour,” Cllr O’Rourke concluded.
