River of Lee debris includes bikes, bubbly and stilettos

THE Cork anthem should be changed to ‘de banks of my own grubby Lee’ if a recent clean-up of the river is anything to go by.

The six-day clean up revealed a murky underworld of rubbish.

Included among the usual debris were unopened champagne bottles, three pairs of expensive stilettos and 23 bicycles.

Some 244 trolleys were pulled from the river bed.

Volunteers also recovered 154 traffic cones, 13 road signs and two tonnes of lumber.

Cork’s litter louts also managed to toss in two shovels and 15 drain pipes.

Volunteers faced the prospect of nasty microbes lurking in the deep and before getting down and dirty they had to get inoculations for hepatitis A and B, oral polio, diphtheria and tetanus.

The pilot clean-up project targeted the river on the north and south channels, stretching from Lapp’s Quay up as far as Mercy University Hospital and Jury’s Hotel. It proved so successful that it is to become a permanent scheme.

The project was organised by David Ronayne of shipping company Irish Mainport Holdings, which developed a partnership with Ascon, William O’Brien Crane Hire, Loftus Engineering, Cork City Council and voluntary groups.

They have purchased a special aluminium boat which will be used by community training organisation Meitheal Mara on a regular basis to remove rubbish.

“A clean river is nice to see. The river bed was full of rubbish. We now hope to take five to six trailers of rubbish out of it every month, instead of letting it build up,” said Mr Roynane.