6 September 2000 Edition

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Fianna Fáil councillors all out against Dempsey's Waste Plan

Last Friday, Galway County Council unanimously rejected the Connaught Regional Draft Waste Management Plan.

After Galway Corporation unanimous rejected the Connaught Plan on a Fine Gael motion last July, Fianna Fáil county councillors, not to be outdone, were fighting to put the motion to reject the plan at the County Council meeting.

``There were motions coming from all directions opposing the plan,'' says Aine Suttle from the Galway Safe Environment Group. ``Every Fianna Fáil Councillor wanted to be part of the act to throw their Minister Dempsey's plan out.'' In the end, there was such a bevy of resolutions that the County Council rejected the plan unanimously and passed all the others on the nod!

Limerick protestors dump waste

More than 300 people came to last Thursday's meeting of Limerick Corporation and dumped rubbish on the steps of City Hall in protest at the privatisation of bin collection and imposition of £120 waste charges.

Limerick Corporation withdraws its free bin collection from this week, and Mr. Binman, the company which the Corporation has highly recommended to the householders, intends to take over the collections, which previously were a service provided to the people.

Michael Coughlan, chairperson of Limerick Against Refuse Charges (LARC), supported by Councillor John Gilligan (Ind) and Alderman Pat Kennedy (FG), declared that people would not pay these extra taxes for the service which the corporation should provide to all householders in the town. ``All householders have already paid once, through their tax, for waste collection,'' says Sinn Féin's Padraig Malone, a member of LARC and campaigner in Moyross against the charges. ``They are not going to pay twice over, for Mr. Binman to make money out of it.''


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