Officer abseils down cliff to clean up waste

Environmental officers at one of the country's best-known beauty spots have gone to extreme measures to remove over four tonnes of waste.


Achill Island in County Mayo is a much-loved tourist attraction but has apparently become an illegal dumping ground for household waste.

However, brave environmental officer Maria O’Connell, assisted by Civil Defence workers, donned climbing equipment and abseiled down a cliff to clean up the site.

A Kildownet resident was found guilty of creating litter that is visible from a public place and ordered to pay a total of euros 1,750 in fines and expenses, according to the Irish Times.

However, Ms O’Connell estimated the total cleanup bill to be closer to euros 4,375.

Six intact bags of waste were removed from the site along with a number of other waste items, restoring the area to its natural state.

Achill Island has five Blue Flag beaches and also hosts a half marathon on July 4th.

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