THE STATE OF Dublin City’s streets has come to the fore as an issue at Dublin City Council level, where a number of members have brought it to the attention of executive management this week. 

Since the pandemic ended, Dublin has become noticeably dirtier according to council members, some of whom spoke to The Journal about the causes of and potential solutions to the problem. 

Former Lord Mayor and Labour Party councillor Allison Gilliland brought forward a motion on the issue at yesterday’s council meeting, although it has been raised in other forums by different members as well. 

According to council members, serial litterers, the privatisation of waste collection services and the collection system itself – combined with urban wildlife – have all contributed to the sorry state of many city centre streets.

“It has got worse and it has escalated where rubbish is getting strewn all over the place but you have to look at the causes and the reasons behind that,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan, who represents the North Inner City local area. 

“So, you have the fact that we obviously got rid of the bin collection services from Dublin City Council and we privatised them so that’s a reason. That’s a big heavy hitter reason why the streets are littered the way we are.”

This is because, she says, there are people who find it difficult to pay for the service due to the current cost of living crisis.

Bin collection was privatised in Dublin back in 2012. 

“And we also have the fact that you have wildlife… the likes of the urban foxes, you have the seagulls, who are opening the bags… pulling all the food waste out, but obviously when they’re pulling the food waste out everything else is coming out.

“So you have a case where there are dirty nappies and there are women’s products just being strewn all over the place and in front of schools and stuff like that. We just can’t have it. It’s just not right as a society. We shouldn’t have to be walking past that,” she said. 

Gilliland also pointed to the effects that city wildlife has on plastic bags left on the streets, as did Green Party councillor Claire Byrne.

Another major factor, according to all three members, is serial littering. 

“The lack of respect a tiny minority have for our city is constantly challenging,” said Gilliland, who also pointed to the way waste collection is managed in the city as an issue.

But perhaps most impactful would be a change to the collection system in the city, whereby plastic bags are left outside businesses on the street for hours.

“The other issue we have is the length of time commercial waste sits on our streets before it’s collected,” said Gilliland, which means that animals have more time to rip the bags open.

There have been pilots conducted by DCC trialing the use of stronger bags and foldable receptacles for food waste, but they have proven unsuccessful to date. 

For Boylan, the solution is to follow the model of a city like Barcelona, where bags of rubbish are deposited in large steel bins located on each street for collection.

Waste collection, she says, should be brought back under the control of the council as well. 

“Even though the senior executives in Dublin City Council don’t want this. We need to keep pushing for that,” she said. 

Byrne wants to see a better system put in place, too. 

“We don’t have good infrastructure. We’re still in a situation in 2023 where businesses are using bags which are out on the street, and they’re even using them for food,” said Byrne. 

Although that is due to change with new legislation coming in regarding the separation and disposal of food waste specifically, something she thinks will be “a big change.”  

Yesterday, DCC management acknowledged the need to do something about the growing problem. 

Speaking at the council meeting, manager John Flanagan told members that additional resources have been allocated in order to ramp up street cleaning. 

“What’s actually been put in place over the last week or a number of days is an order to improve the street cleaning services, particularly in the city centre area,” he said.

“There have been additional resources allocated to the city centre area with up to 100 staff working over three shifts over 24 hours a day. And that’s throughout the week.

“And in addition to that, there’s been street washing being carried out by direct labour crews, up to four direct labour crews, at nighttime and this has also been during the weekend being supplemented by contractors and they have five crews working in the city centre areas,” he said. 

He added that extra crews had been detailed between 6am and 2pm “to deep clean the central areas on a daily basis” and that an extra three street sweeping vehicles had been commissioned.  

“Waste Management Services will continue working with other areas such as the Office of City Recovery and the business representation groups in the city centre. 

“And they will keep under review their operations and if additional resources are required in specific areas, they will put these resources in place. So we’ll keep this under review over the next number of weeks,” he said. 

Outside of the political sphere, City Centre business lobby group Dublin Town says it is working with DCC to increase the frequency of street washing during the prolonged period of dry weather. 

“Though street cleaning is ultimately the responsibility of the City Council, Dublin Town, the collective voice of businesses in Dublin city centre, organises street cleaning seven days-a-week from 4.00am,” said Dublin Town CEO, Richard Guiney.

“Our work is in addition to that done by Dublin City Council. ‘Street staining’ occurs during prolonged periods of dry weather and is made worse by intense sunshine.

“Dust and grime sticks to liquids such as ice-cream and soft-drinks and street surfaces can deteriorate very quickly.

“A street washed at night can look terrible by the following afternoon.”