Council takes ‘dirty waste’ from Achill and Ballina bonfires

‘Dirty waste’ deemed hazardous to public health if burned was removed by Mayo County Council from bonfires in Achill and Ballina ahead of Bonfire Night, which fell on Sunday.

Mayo County Council officials in its environmental department inspected a number of bonfire sites to remove the harmful items ahead of the annual St John’s Night festival.

A number of items considered to be waste were removed from a site in Ballina following complaints by members of the public, while a small number of items was also removed from a bonfire following an inspection on Achill Island.

A spokesperson for the environment section of Mayo County Council said the majority of bonfires inspected contained ‘clean’ products, such as timber. However, they said, but there remains a tendency among some people to use bonfire night as an opportunity to get rid of waste for free.

The spokesperson explained that the Ballina site was particularly bad, with all sorts of household rubbish left along the side of the public road. No attempt had even been made to put the rubbish on the makeshift bonfire being built.

The Achill bonfire contained a lot of timber, which the spokesperson said was acceptable to be burned for Bonfire Night, but it also contained plastics and furniture, which would be hazardous to people’s health if lit.

The items were removed by the council on Friday afternoon prior to Bonfire Night on Sunday.

Controversial

“Generally the problem of burning dangerous and dirty items on bonfires for Bonfire Night is not as prevalent as it once was, but there is still a cohort of people who use Bonfire Night as an excuse to dispose of their waste for free,” the spokesperson told The Mayo News.

“People who attend bonfires with their children do not want them to be inhaling toxic fumes which are proven to be carcinogenic when burnt.

“We only removed the items we consider to be dangerous to public health when burnt and left materials we consider to be clean.

“We understand Bonfire Night is still an important tradition in the west of Ireland and in many parts of rural Mayo. We appreciate that tradition and we do not want to stop that tradition. We just don’t want dirty and dangerous bonfires which are bad for people’s health and the environment.”

The removal of materials from bonfires has proved to be controversial in the past, with some public representatives suggesting that the money would be better spent elsewhere.

The spokesperson explained that money spent removing items from bonfires was ring-fenced for the removal of waste from public areas and was not taken from any other fund.