Ballymun marks World Clean Up Day

WORLD Clean Up Day was marked recently in Ballymun when locals turned out in numbers to help tidy up the area.

Residents in the area are determined to rid the area’s bad reputation when it comes to litter. 

A recent Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report placed Ballymun last in a list of 40 areas and declared Ballymun to be a ‘litter blackspot’ – the first time the grade has been used in the report in three years.

Packed public meetings were held during the summer with locals vowing to fight back against the perception that Ballymun is a litter strewn suburb.

In fact, dozens of hard-working residents have been volunteering their time for years, organising clean-ups and keeping the local environment clean.

So it was no surprise that they showed strong support for last month’s World Clean Up Day. Local councillor, Noeleen Reilly (IND) thanked everybody who turned up on the day.

"It was great to see so many people out all over Ballymun today supporting world Clean Up Day,” she said.

“What was even better was that there was huge support from the Finglas and Meakstown communities.

“Ballymun has got some negative press in recent months around illegal dumping and litter and it was important for the community to challenge this and respond.

 “I believe this criticism was unfair as there is a huge amount of environmental work that goes on in Ballymun all year round through different community groups.”

“Well done to everyone who came out today.”