“People need to step up & be responsible” says Callan resident

A local litter-busting warrior is calling out others in a county Kilkenny town to do more to combat the rising issue there.

Graham O’Connor volunteers his spare time cleaning up, in particular as part of a Plastic Patrol on local waterways.

Most recently he’s been picking up in Callan, filling bags of dumped items in particular close to the new Fairgreen area which is home to a new playground and a range of sporting facilities including John Lockes GAA Club & Callan United FC grounds.

He says it shouldn’t come down to one person to clean the area every week & is calling on others to show personal responsibility & for clubs in the area & the county council to formulate a plan.

Graham’s been telling KCLR News that he took action after he brought his three year old daughter down to the playground which he notes had “so much was spent on and invested in on its upgrading by the council but it was just overrun with litter, I had to go home & get my equipment and started cleaning the local area but the more you go out to do it the more you realise how much is around”.

He adds that “The real answer is for people to step up & be responsible and care about their environment & their area”.

Mr O’Connor pointed out that at one of his recent clean-up sessions he noticed a group of teenagers sitting amongst all this food waste that had been strung around the ground which made him ask “why do you want to hang out in that mess? I don’t want my daughter going to the playground & thinking that this is the norm, it shouldn’t be the norm”.

He’s been in contact with some of the sporting organisations in the area & also with the county council who’ve told him that funding’s been approved for two more bins to add to the existing one in the area.

Hope is that more can be done & he’s calling for a meeting with the local authority to further discuss the issue.