RESIDENTS FROM THE Dublin 7 area staged a protest outside City Hall this evening over plans to replace bin bag collection with wheelie bins. 

The new rules are being brought in by Dublin City Council, which argues that the change is needed to tackle some of the issues with bin bags, including bags being torn open by seagulls and other wildlife. 

This is being done using a phased approach across some of Dublin city centre’s streets that will gradually require more residents to use bins instead of leaving bin bags for collection outside their properties. 

A group of roughly 100 people gathered on Parliament Street this evening chanting “this plan is full of rubbish” and “Dublin 7 say it clear, wheelie bins aren’t welcome here”.

Kate Henshaw / The Journal Kate Henshaw / The Journal / The Journal

Stoneybatter resident Christine Lucignano spoke to The Journal at the protest this evening and said they want “a system of waste that doesn’t put our health at risk” and “doesn’t put the elderly or the disabled in danger on our footpaths”.

She criticised Dublin City Council’s communication on the issue and the cost increases they’re facing from the change.

“They’re not giving us any support in terms of communal bins, or even they won’t even discuss underground bins, or even redesign our bags.”

“We just want to do what’s right and for the environment and for the neighbours,” she continued. 

She also said the reasoning being given to them over concerns about wildlife opening bin bags is a “stupid excuse” and not an issue she has observed in the area. 

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon also attended the protest this evening and said the change is a “bad policy”.

“You can’t impose issues on the community by which the council don’t seem to understand.

“There’s been a lot of broken promises” he continued.

Kate Henshaw / The Journal Kate Henshaw / The Journal / The Journal

He called on Dublin City Council to stop and “take a step back”, adding that while the national waste management review is being underway, “we shouldn’t be making significant changes”.

“Unless the council is expecting residents to store bins in their kitchen, they just need to stop this because that’s a truth that’s not going to change.”

‘We’re all very unhappy’

Speaking to The Journal before the protest, organisers said the issue has “brought the community together” and they are seeking a deferral of the proposed implementation on 17 October. 

One of the protest organisers, Caoimhe McSharry Daly, said the main issues with the change revolve around lack of space to store bins and the fixed cost of waste collection.

“These plans are really expensive compared to what we’re currently paying, because at the moment you pay per bag that you put out, but with those caddies, it’s a fixed rate.”

McSharry Daly said wheelie bins risk cluttering the street, causing issues on footpaths for those with accessibility requirements, and many residents in the area have nowhere to store the bins with most not having side passageways or front gardens. 

“The biggest thing is just the storage and the practicalities of how am I going to wheel this in and out of my house? Because for the people that do have yards, you have to go through your living room, through your kitchen.”

She also said those that have already made the switch to wheelie bins “haven’t had their bins picked up regularly” and the response they have got to some of these concerns from the council has been “shocking”.

Paddy Woodworth, a long-time resident in the Dublin 7 area, said the community has “all come together to oppose this”.

According to Woodworth, this is “creating a problem where there was already a solution” and he has not observed issues with wildlife tearing open bags or general waste management issues in the area.

He is also concerned about having wheelie bins on the narrow streets for those with prams, wheelchairs or other accessibility requirements.

“We’re all very unhappy with how this has been handled by the council. If there is a need for a change, which I’m not entirely convinced of, they’ve handled it really badly,” he said.

Green Party councillor for the area Feljin Jose said the issue needs to be tackled at a government level and that many of these problems are arising as a result of the privatisation of waste collection in Dublin. 

“We have this fractured and privatised system, where each company competes for waste collection on a door-by-door, street-by-street basis, which other cities don’t have.”

He said the city centre needs “one company, one provider serving one area” and this would allow areas to use shared bins and keep the streets clear.