Dirty old town... mind your step because streets are gone to the dogs

WALKING down Shandon Street in Cork on a recent Sunday morning, I was disgusted at the filth underfoot. There was hardly a paving slab that was not smeared or encrusted with something vile that had to be stepped over.

Dog excrement, slow-congealing blood from the civilised revelries of the previous night, urine streams meandering downhill.

And it is not just an inner city problem. Walking through Blackrock a few days later there appeared not to be a square foot of pavement without dog excrement. Of course, it hadn’t rained for weeks. The city council appears to rely on the certainty of regular rain to do its dirty work and just powerwashing a few central streets is ridiculous.