Cork councillor in sit-in over uncollected waste

A Green with backbone?

A Green Party councillor is staging an all-day sit-in the Cork City Manager's office today to highlight what he claims is the serious health and safety crisis facing the city due to non-collection of waste.

"There are now thousands of black bags lining the streets of Cork," Mr Chris O'Leary said today. "The City Manager's only response so far has been to put illegal dumping stickers on the bags."

"While it is vital to tackle the issue of illegal dumping, simply leaving the bags on the streets, as is currently happening in Cork, is not the answer. As a result we are now faced with a serious health and safety crisis."

It is understood that people are dumping waste illegally to avoid paying bin charges. Mr O'Leary is calling for the waste to be removed before the issue of illegal dumping is tackled.

"We regret that we have been forced into the necessity of taking this stance and having to take over the office of the City Manager, Joe Gavin," he added.

"But we have no alternative seeing as he has failed to respond to this mounting health and safety crisis."

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