How rubbish-infested is Ireland? Are we much worse than the norm of other so-called developed countries? At any rate a band of people in County Meath (a county that is making strenuous efforts to increase its tourist income), wrote to the Meath Chronicle of April 11th a letter expressing disgust at the way in which people despoil their lovely countryside. It is not a polemic, but a sober account of what they found when they set about cleaning up just a part of the county. Their first task was to clear the Emlagh Bog, a not very extensive tract of countryside lying roughly half way between Kells and Slane, not far from Wilkinstown. They were given large skips and set out with tractors, trailers and hundreds of plastic bags.
On the Saturday, over twenty people started to clean up the sides of the road through the bog. Hundreds of plastic bags, their spokesmen wrote, full of nauseating rubbish were hauled from the ditches. Dead calves, sheep, pigs and dogs were found, some wrapped in cloth material, along the roadside verges. Some shops, their letter claims, and businesses had obviously dumped their rubbish over the ditches. Disused washing machines, dud television sets, bedsteads and other items were encountered. Nappy pads, rotting food and "other unappealing items" were removed to feed and eventually fill the huge skips.
A single day's work only scratched the surface and they "continued this work on weekday evenings." Then a different area was tackled, the Bloomsbury road, a mainly residential and farming area. "Some 40 to 50 sackfuls of rubbish were taken from the verges of this pleasant country road." Coke cans, chip boxes, plastics and empty paint cans were encountered, but also, disturbingly several rotting animals. The writers ask if other areas are similarly affected. The idea of inviting tourists here will be a grim joke if we do not tackle the problem seriously and on a regular and sustained basis. Cosmetic answers and PR spins will not solve this national problem."
The letter mentions the names of families who helped "to improve this microsection of Meath," and thanks the Wilkinstown Gun Club. "And presence of others, including Colr Seb Rooney and, good man, Mr Collier "who kindly brought some lunch." The three signatories of the letter to the Chronicle on behalf of the Oristown and Emlagh Environment Group - and it is to be hoped there are many more such throughout the country - Laurence Morris, Jim McAleese and Tommy Morris are heroes, and represent other heroes behind them. How many parishes have such a lead? Y