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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Nicola Donnelly

Clean-up 'nightmare' after mountains of litter left behind by crowds at Dublin beach

These are the shocking and disgusting scenes of soiled nappies, plastic bags, cans, bottles and even clothes that were left behind on a picturesque north county Dublin beach.

Crowds flocked to our beaches - including Burrow Beach in Sutton - to enjoy the heatwave, but left a disgusting mess of litter in huge quantities behind them.

This morning, Fingal County Council workers spent several hours cleaning up the tonnes of rubbish left behind by beach goers at waterways.

Read More: Man allegedly caught selling nitrous oxide to teens on Irish beach during mini heatwave

The unsightly and disgusting scenes have prompted Deputy Lord Mayor of Fingal to hit out at those who left beauty spots strewn with rubbish.

“The conditions of the beaches are always down to the people using them,” Deputy Mayor Cathal Boland told The Star.

“The Council, of course, has a responsibility to keep them clean but when considerable numbers of people go on and have disregard for the correct basic disposal of their litter or bringing it home, then we are always going to end up with a situation which puts an extra strain on council resources to return the beaches to a pristine condition.

Rubbish including beer bottles, wine and prosecco bottles, plastic and paper cups and bottles, soiled nappies, shoes, underwear and towels left by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)
Rubbish left behind by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)
Rubbish left behind by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)

“It’s extremely important that beaches are kept in good condition not only from the point of view of aesthetics but equally from the point of view of safety.

“It’s good housekeeping for everyone that the person next door to you on the beach is entitled to a clean beach just like everyone else is,” he said.

“It’s down to the people to maintain good practice while certainly the Council came under pressure because of the huge amount of litter left behind.

“It’s extremely difficult to deal with situations like this,” he said.

“If you bring something to the beach, bring it home with you. All beaches can come under strain at times like this,” he advises.

Rubbish left behind by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)
Rubbish left behind by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)
Rubbish left behind by sunbathers on the Burrow Beach, Sutton (Padraig O'Reilly)

Several people took to social media to slam those who left the mountains of litter behind.

One person said they went to Burrow beach for a swim at 10pm on Monday but was shocked that the beach “was in bits, broken glass everywhere.

“I’d say this morning's clean up was a nightmare,” he posted. ”On one hand it was brilliant to see everyone have fun, and on the other, sad to see the state they left the place in.”

Another person wrote on seeing the beach full of rubbish, “This is really sad. Bring a black bin liner and take your c**p home. It ruins it for everyone else.”

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