Exactly one year after officials were tasked with tackling the scourge of porridge oats daily distributed throughout the city centre, enforcement has commenced.
In May last year, a task force was set-up to coordinate gardaí, Galway city council staff, environmental health officials, vermin control, medical authorities and a local charity.
The news comes as Government is expected this week to announce a series of legal reforms aimed at creating cleaner communities, including a 66 per cent increase in on-the-spot litter fines, to €250.
It is difficult to verify timelines, but it appears porridge oats have been deliberately distributed almost daily from Lower Salthill to College Road, and everywhere in between, since 2016.
Councillor Frank Fahy (FG ) demanded an update from senior officials at this week’s meeting of the Galway city council, after complaining he is “bombarded” with up to 12 complaints a day about cereal sprinkled around Galway, attracting birds and vermin, and causing the feral cat population to soar.
“We are now doing enforcement and issuing fines, and a number of fines have been issued,” explained Patrick Greene, the local authority’s director of services for Operational Development. “We have been going around cleaning up the city, and a lot of work, effort and money has gone into it,” he said. “From a rodent and litter point of view, this is happening... and that takes time. The next stage is enforcement.”
Councillor Terry O’Flaherty (Ind ) suggested the city might employ someone to follow an alleged porridge propagator, armed with a brush or leaf blower “with Garda presence if necessary” to disperse pavement porridge while it is still fresh.
“Our ‘softly-softly’ approach is not working. It’s still on every street corner. Something must be done,” she said.
Frank Fahy, who represents the city’s central ward, said “it was absolute nonsense” that action is happening. He said he was emailed photos and videos every day of vast piles of porridge, sometimes in the middle of the night, and that from now on he would forward them to the city manager, Leonard Cleary, and Mayor Mike Cubbard (Ind ) “to see how you like it”.
In response, Mr Cleary said he had discussed the matter with city businesses, and praised his outdoor staff in the city centre for striving to create a “pristine city”.
“I take on board the sentiment of councillors Fahy and O’Flaherty about this particular issue. We are committed to it. In our Budget 2027, I would like to afford additional outdoor crews, especially during the visitor season and in the evenings,” he said.
Councillor Níall McNelis (Lab ) commented that “he had never seen the city looking so well” and commended council staff for deep cleansing and steam cleaning several untidy areas, including Buttermilk Walk, where porridge is known to congeal.
In March, the Advertiser reported on a vermin expert who claimed that generations of rats in the city centre had been reared on porridge, making them less likely to take poisoned bait. One localised population explosion in the city - the worst in 19 years - poses a current public health risk as carrion eaters, including magpies, crows and cats, were gorging on rat carcasses, and leaving droppings near a recently revamped children’s play area.
Animal welfare enthusiasts say seagulls in Galway, including endangered species, are feasting on oats which can become glutinous around their beaks, causing feeding issues harmful to their natural pursuit of fish, molluscs, insects and eggs. The highly acidic droppings of the city’s porridge-fed pigeon population are causing structural damage to drains and roofs, and increasing the chances of salmonella or Cryptococcosis poisoning, which can cause pneumonia and meningitis.
Legal sources suggest that under the 1919 Rats and Mice Destruction Act, property owners may be fined if they do not take steps to deal with an infestation, while local authorities may prosecute individuals under littering bye-laws, or under the 1878 Public Health Act (Ireland ), which has specific provision for individuals who create a nuisance injurious to public health.
One city centre shop has taken oats off its shelves in an attempt to influence the issue, while another temporarily hiked its porridge prices, but the measure did not seem to influence buyer behaviour.
Community Wardens in the city centre are understood to have disengaged from the porridge issue because of staff welfare concerns, while a proposal from a charity to designate certain areas where individuals may freely disperse breakfast goods, has been unsuccessful.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
