Latest news with #AnnetteFlanagan
Sunday World
08-06-2025
- Sunday World
Multi-million euro operation to clean illegal dump starts after decades of complaints
Illegal dump in residential area is finally being cleaned up... 19 YEARS after locals complained about the dangerous eyesore close to their homes The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses The illegal dump was situated just metres from people's houses A digger at the site at Belcamp in Dublin A multi-million euro operation to clean up a huge illegal dump just metres from the homes of disgusted residents has started after decades of complaints. In 2012, the Sunday World highlighted how criminal gangs were suspected of being behind the waste collection racket making millions from the site at Darndale in north Dublin. Photographs taken from a helicopter at the time show the huge scale of the dump, which continued to mount for years afterwards. Local resident and campaigner Annette Flanagan this week said people had been complaining to Dublin City Council for 19 years, but little action had been taken. Contractors moved in to begin work on the site on April 29, finally starting the long-awaited clean-up. A council spokesperson said the operation is expected to cost between €6 million and €8 million and there are no plans for action against anyone responsible for it. Annette told the Sunday World: 'I've fought this for 19 years and no-one cared. Every single week it should have been in the papers, it should have been on the radio.' 'Nobody had our back around here, not one person, no TDs, 19 years I'm fighting this. 'DCC is our landlord at the end of the day, and we should never have been living metres from an illegal landfill. 'There's a lot of people, an awful lot of people, who died around here, we can't prove that it's anything to do with the landfill. We'll never prove that,' she added. 'The people that died had lung cancer, breast cancer and DCC did not give two s***s. They just kept constantly kicking that can down the road, they didn't care.' The turning point came when an environmental solicitor at Community Law & Mediation launched a legal bid to force the council to take action. 'We had to live around here and live beside that, which was embarrassing, disgusting — fires every night,' said Annette. The illegal dump near Belcamp in Coolock, Dublin Today's News in 90 Seconds - 08 June 2025 'At the end of the day, I blame DCC for the whole lot of it. 'Eventually I was taking them to court, but on the 29th of April, all of a sudden, they got started.' Annette said the important thing now is to get moving on putting out tenders to redevelop the site and not wait another 19 years. Residents have suggested the council should build facilities such as a sensory garden, allotments, an all-weather pitch and a playground. 'It was a long fight to get it done, let me tell you, for the people around here. People were just so depressed. To look out your door every morning or your window and look at seven stories high is a holy disgrace,' said Annette. 'It's getting done now, but it should have never happened.' There are concerns about what might be unearthed from industrial and household waste. Community Law & Mediation welcomed the start of work to remove the landfill, which was a 'serious health and environmental hazard.' 'We remain prepared to take further action as necessary to ensure that the site is fully and safely cleared and that the community's rights are protected,' said a spokesperson. Asbestos has previously been found at the dump, which is estimated to hold 40,000 tons of commercial and domestic waste and is infested with rats. The clean-up operation is expected to take up to four months.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Removal of illegal north Dublin landfill begins at cost of €6m after years of dumping
Work has started on the removal and permanent closure of one of Dublin's largest and longest-operating illegal landfill sites, at a cost of up to €6 million. The dump, which is estimated to hold 40,000 tonnes of commercial and domestic waste, has been operating for decades at Darndale Park in north Dublin. Hazardous material including asbestos has been found in the dump, which is regularly subject to fires and is infested with rats. Dublin City Council has spent several hundred thousand euro on periodic clearance of the landfill located opposite homes in Moatview Court and Belcamp Gardens. READ MORE In 2019, after spending €230,000 the previous year to remove accumulated waste, the council said it was establishing a 'multi-departmental' taskforce to develop a permanent solution for the site. However, local residents said they saw little progress in resolving the issue. 'We were looking out every day at a six-storey pile of rubbish metres from our houses, trying to get the council to take responsibility for it, but they kept kicking the can down the road,' said Annette Flanagan, who has lived in Moatview Court for 39 years. Residents were constantly having to deal with rats entering their homes, she said. 'You'd see the rats everywhere, and you'd hear them above you in the attic. People would take down their Christmas stuff and it would be eaten away by the rats.' Residents' concerns intensified after tests, carried out at the dump by the council in 2019, showed the presence of asbestos. 'We were always worried about what we were breathing in, especially with the fires, but now we knew. There's terrible health problems, a lot of people have had cancer. People will say: 'Well it's an underprivileged area and you're not eating right and you're smoking or drinking' - now that is a lie, I never drank.' In 2022, Ms Flanagan approached the local Community Law & Mediation centre, which runs free legal advice clinics on environmental law. The centre approached the council on behalf of residents. Last year, the council issued tenders for the full removal of the waste and the construction of a 2.5m wall between Darndale Park and a group of adjacent Traveller accommodation sites. The work to remove the waste has started and is expected to take up to four months, the council said. 'It is expected that the cost for clean-up of this site will be between €4 million and €6 million,' it said. The council said it has been 'engaged in increased enforcement activity and has worked in co-operation with local gardaí from the Coolock area' at the site. 'As a result of this, no increase in illegal dumping has occurred at this site for approximately the last two years,' it said. 'Part of the current works involves the building of a boundary wall where the illegal dumping has taken place, and once all the current works are completed, it is proposed to develop the lands in question for community use. 'The increase in enforcement on this area together with the construction and development works are designed to prevent further illegal dumping on this site.' It said it was not taking any legal action in relation to the dump. 'Dublin City Council has no evidence against any individual for illegal dumping at this site and consequently is not taking illegal action against anyone for illegal dumping at this stage,' the local authority said. Community Law & Mediation welcomed the start of work to remove the landfill, which was a 'serious health and environmental hazard' it said. 'We remain prepared to take further action as necessary to ensure that the site is fully and safely cleared and that the community's rights are protected,' it said. Ms Flanagan said she hoped to see sports pitches, a sensory garden for children with autism and allotments on the land. 'I really hope the council do the right thing now,' she said. 'At the end of the day they are our landlords and they should never have left us living beside that.'
