Gardaí try to arrest Donegal operator of illegal waste dump

Gardaí in Co Donegal have been trying to arrest and bring to prison the operator of an illegal dump outside Letterkenny, whom a High Court judge ordered jailed for contempt of court.

Mr Justice Max Barrett made the order on August 22nd against Jim Ferry, of Ferrys Refuse Collection Limited and Ferrys Refuse Recycling Limited, both of Rossbracken on the outskirts of Letterkenny.

While Mr Ferry was in court for the hearing of Donegal County Council's application that he be committed to jail and was present for Mr Justice Barrett's decision, he left before the order was written and promulgated. The order was subsequently sent to Garda headquarters in Dublin for execution by members of the force.

Mr Ferry is presumed to have returned to Letterkenny where company documents give his address as Slive Sneacht Road. In other documents to the High Court, he gave his address as Rossbracken, a townland where he owns 11 acres, the site of his illegal dumping and a building, Rossbracken House, which he has used as offices and is not believed to be lived in.

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‘Empty handed’

An Garda Síochána has declined to give any information about the situation.

Asked if Mr Ferry had been arrested, a Garda spokesman said “we do not comment on named individuals nor confirm if named individuals have been arrested”. Asked if the order of the High Court had been implemented, the spokesman added he could not confirm that.

However, it has become apparent that efforts are being made to implement the court order.

Last week, a Garda car patrolled the small road leading to Rossbracken and, on Monday, gardaí spent a number of hours outside a house on Slive Sneacht Road which they entered at about 11am.

While sources say they left the property “empty handed”, they confirmed that a warrant was out for Mr Ferry’s arrest.

Waste removal

Mr Justice Barrett ordered that he be detained in prison until he purged his contempt – in effect, until he complied with a court order of last April to remove all surface waste and waste stored in a shed at Rossbracken, believed to amount to some 2,000 tons of mainly household waste.

The order also directed that plans be made for the removal of an estimated 28,000 to 36,000 tonnes of waste which Mr Ferry buried illegally at the site, pocketing the estimated €3.36 million he charged customers and which should have been used to pay for the lawful disposal of the waste.