Rubbish

The main reason why Dublin city is so dirty, and will remain so for the distant future, is quite simply because its citizens don’t give a shit.
I’m always amazed at how little Dubliners care for the city in which they live. Whereas littering would be something that would be grossly frowned upon in almost every other European country (bar the U.K. perhaps), it seems an entirely exceptable thing for people here to do. Whether it be throwing away your McDonald’s bag, spitting out your chewing gum, or even urinating on the streets, it’s all an O.K. thing for people in Dublin to do. And with regards to the debate surrounding the problem of chewing gum, I think the stuff should simply be banned. The Environment Minister’s response to the problem was simply a joke, and a perfect example of politicians bowing to corporate interests.
However, it’s not really just a Dublin problem, it’s a country-wide problem. I don’t think there’s really a single town or city in the entire country that could be called clean by European standards.
Nevertheless, I do think Dublin City Council could clean up its act a bit (excuse the pun lol). Bins should be cleaned and emptied far more regularly, and the actual street pavements themselves should be cleaned with high-pressure steam hoses at least once a week to get rid of the dirt, as opposed to simply the litter, on the streets.
Also, all those Buscar Bruscar bins all over the city should be replaced with the stainless steel onces that are currently on O’Connell Street. They’re bigger and they don’t smell as bad! Seriously, the smell which is coming from those bins on Grafton Street these days is just ridiculous! Indeed, the smell on Grafton Street itself is pretty bad! I think the street is really in need of repair. Perhaps now that the final stage of the O’Connell Street improvement works is about to begin, the Council will consider improving our main thoroughfare south of the Liffey?

On the issue of street cleaning, I have noticed one striking difference. Both the pavements around the city hall in Belfast and St Stephen’s green in Dublin were finished in granite(?) paving not too long ago. But the Belfast city council seems to have done a much better job than its Dublin counterpart in keeping the granite in its attractive original state. The last time I saw the pavement around the green it had collected so much dirt it had begun to ressemble bog standard concrete slabs.

What’s the point in spending the extra sum on an attractive finish if through lack of cleaning it loses the qualities it was chosen for in the first place?

In America, they send minor criminal offenders out on litter duty and cut their sentences in return.
If you had a purely voluntary system like that here, it might be something that could be looked at.
Of course, the usual suspects would be up-in-arms at the notion.

On the issue of pavement surfaces, the Dublinspirations report highlights very well the problem MT points out – the fact that unlike the robust rough Wicklow and Dalkey granite used to pave the capital’s streets in the past, this new white Portuguese and Chinese granite being put down everywhere needs to be constantly cleaned or else it quickly assumes a dull concrete appearance.

Notable particularly around the Green after a long spell of neglect – it looks awful, made more so by the levels of water running off the overhanging trees combining with city dust, or the huge amount of leaves in autumn that stain the surface.
O’Connell St is being regularly pressure washed at least, one night I passed it was being done at about 11.30!
As to the impact of all this washing on the stone I don’t know…

Contrast this paving with the rust-tinged antique paving and kerbstones about the city centre – they never need cleaning save some litter clearing, and always look fantastic.
We need a hardline approach to littering in this country – community service should be doled out much more often as punishments. We also need more wardens; I’ve often seen litter wardens in regional towns, but never ever in Dublin!
Are they undercover or something?!

It’s an issue of personal responsibility but also a municipal issue. On the one hand, we now have a significant subculture of people who have absolutely no respect for anything. But on the other hand, we have indolent, lethargic and indifferent public authorities, in strong contrast to places already mentioned, such as Sweden, or even the Wee North! We also have zero enforcement of laws that relate to quality of life. To make a comparison, if some skanger flings his KFC wrappers into my garden, I’ll curse him, but I’ll also clean it up. Of course I will. What am I going to do? Wait till it goes away? We need to understand that we have to clean up , AND prosecute the offenders. As a matter of interest, how many people here routinely take the initiative and pick up litter on the street as they walk by? That would make a difference too, and it’s something we’d all do if we really felt our cities belonged to us.

It is prohibitively expensive compared with the vast quanities of stone (especially granite and slate) being extracted and exported from China, India and lower-paid European economies.

So much so that Irish stone, particularly marble from the west, now has to be marketed as something as a ‘niche’ product which is a shame.