EU shares residents’ concern over illegal dump

RESIDENTS who fought an illegal dump in an amenity area all the way to the European Commission said they felt vindicated yesterday following a scathing EU attack on a city’s environmental record.

Members of the Mallow Road Residents’ Association went on to demand that Murphy’s Rock in Blackpool be fully restored and declared an area of special conservation.

Murphy’s Rock in the Glenamought Valley has six distinct types of habitat and is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Spoil material, including earth, boulders and gravel, was dumped near the site in 1999, on land owned by the GAA, as work on the EU co-funded Blackpool bypass project was underway.

Denis Harley, a member of the residents’ association, said on one day alone in 1999, he counted up to 72 trucks driving into Delaney’s GAA club site, overlooking Murphy’s Rock, to dump material.

“350,000 tonnes of material was dumped there,” he said on site yesterday.

Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said Murphy’s Rock would have been totally destroyed if residents hadn’t taken a stand five years ago.

She said despite repeated complaints Cork City Council refused to see it as a problem.

“We were forced to stand in front of massive dump trucks to bring the operation to a halt,” she said.

Joan McAllister, who was born and lives in a house next to the site, described the situation as a “scandal.”

Last Monday evening, the EU’s Environment Commissioner, Margot Walstrom, issued a damning report on Ireland’s environmental record, highlighting nine breaches of EU environment law.

Among them was the Murphy’s Rock incident.

Ms Walstrom said this dumping was particularly worrying given the fact that the city council is also responsible for waste management.

Residents welcomed her decision and were scathing in their criticism of Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Cork County Board.

They said they will be keeping a watching brief on what is done on site over the coming weeks.

While the city council oversaw the building of the Blackpool bypass project, the responsibility for restoring the site now rests with the county council.

It is understood a contractor, McSwiney Construction, has been appointed to handle the clean-up.

Dozens of trial pits will be dug and the samples will be sent to England for analysis.

Some of the embankments will be regraded but clarification will be needed before embankments on the south of the site can be dealt with.

Green Party city councillor Chris O’Leary has sought a meeting of the council to discuss the issue.

“If I don’t get a satisfactory response, I will be calling for details on who was responsible for this and I will be calling for resignations,” he said.