McDonald's to replace plastic straws with paper in Irish restaurants

McDonald's are getting rid of plastic straws from their Irish restaurants - and replacing them with paper ones.

The fast-food chain will start the phased rollout of paper straws in all of its 92 outlets from September.

The Environment Minister has welcomed the announcement, saying it is a "move in the right direction" at eliminating single-use plastics.

Mindy O'Brien, from Irish environmental group VOICE, hopes more businesses will follow McDonald's example.

"We really need to move away from the single-use plastics," said Ms O'Brien.

"We've all seen the pictures of the turtle with the straw up his nose or birds wrapped up in plastic...I think this is a great first step and long may it continue.

"I hope that others will follow suit to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment."

- Digital Desk