Dumping disgrace in Achill

Achill village being destroyed by dumping

Anton McNulty

AN ACHILL native who was on holidays on the island said he was heartbroken and disgusted to see rubbish being dumped in scenic areas along bog roads near the village of Dooagh.
John Gielty, a native of Keel West, Dooagh, was on holidays in Achill from Scotland last week when he came upon the rubbish, which was dumped by the side of bog roads leading towards Slievemore. He said the rubbish contained mostly construction waste such as old pieces of timber and rubble but there were also old fridges, televisions and mattresses dumped in the bogs. A photographer by profession, John told The Mayo News that he was heartbroken to see dumping in such a picturesque part of the island and wants to highlight the problem to try and find a solution to it.
“I was so disappointed with what I saw, it actually detracted from my holiday. It was heartbreaking to see paint tins, timbers and mattresses dumped near Slievemore; this is not the village I remember. I grew up in Dooagh and it maddens me to think that people could be so bad to do such a thing. The island is being destroyed by people being careless when building houses and dumping all the debris. They do not seem to be worried about the environment or what they are doing. They come up at night and dump the rubbish on the quiet instead of disposing of it properly. I don’t want to put down Dooagh but I have to highlight this because I am horrified to see this happening,” he said.
John said he did not have the solution to the problem but felt that the County Council should be doing more to catch the people doing the dumping. He said he was horrified to think that the people doing the dumping were local people and feels that it will stop visitors from coming to the island. He admitted that if he did not have family connections with the area, he would think twice about taking a holiday in the area.
“I have bumped into tourists who have commented on the state of the dumping and are horrified to think it is allowed to happen. I came across hillwalkers who said the place was beautiful but the dumping was putting them off. This is a side of Achill I don’t like and if this continues the way it is going, people will stop coming to Achill and it will become a forgotten place.”