South Dublin County Council has revealed it paid out €120,000 in repairing the damages caused by bonfires this Halloween season.
The figure is a slight decline from 2019 and 2018 when €150,000 was paid out each year.
The local authority also revealed that it removed 495 tonnes of waste from the 280 bonfires that were found throughout the county.
This compares to 2019 when 256 bonfires were found while 585 tonnes of waste was removed.
Fianna Fail councillor Teresa Costello, who asked for the figures to be published, said it is important people know how much damage bonfires cause to areas.
“I asked the question because there are people who volunteer their time to keep green spaces in the community looking well, from litter picking to maintaining the greens spaces,” she says.
“Each year when Halloween comes around there is a challenge to prevent bonfires. I wanted to show people how much money these fires drain from our community that could be put to better use.”
The local authority said that “it should be noted that all costs have not yet been incurred, as reinstatement where required of damaged areas will not take place until spring 2021.”
To help combat the building of bonfires, the council says “attention was paid to commercial premises where pallets are stored, and they were requested to take measures to ensure they could not be taken for bonfire materials.
It also says letters were issued to premises dealing with wooden pallets and used tyres.
“Meetings were held with An Garda Siochana in the run up to Halloween to help co-ordinate the efforts of all concerned,” it said.