COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 14, 2022

QUESTION NO.5

QUESTION: Councillor C. King

To ask the Chief Executive, has the full cost of the Halloween 2021 Clean-up been fully collated yet and can he report on same and state if any additional proposed measures to mitigate same are being considered for 2022.

REPLY:

The clean up of bonfire sites was completed in November 2021, landscape resinstatement at sites where required has not taken place as yet as ground conditions in general have not dried and firmed up sufficiently yet for this to happen.  It is expected that this will happen later in March or early April.  The cost information given previously and copied below does not include reinstatement costs which are not known as yet, however these are not expected to increase the total costs in a major way.  The measures to be taken in 2022 will be very similar to those taken in recent years, with one addition being the provision of a sum of €20,000 to hold a fireworks display for the benefit of the community this Halloween.

A total of 180 bonfire sites were recorded around the County in 2021 and this is a substantial reduction from the 280 sites recorded in 2020.  There are a number of factors to which the reduction can be attributed and these include the vigilance and efforts taken by local residents to prevent bonfires in their areas.  The Council held meetings with Kilnamanagh Neighbourhood Watch as well as residents from Aylesbury and Tymon North this year in advance of Halloween to coordinate the efforts of the residents, the Council and the Gardai in identifying and removing material stockpiles and minimising the impact of bonfires on those areas.  A meeting was also held with Clondalkin area elected members on the same matter.  The pre-Halloween collections of the Council show an increase from 2020 in materials intercepted before Halloween with Council crews out collecting material on 13 of the 14 days prior to Halloween. It is also quite likely that the weather helped to reduce the number of bonfires held this year also.  

The tonnage collected before Halloween in 2020 was 237 tonnes however this increased to 332 tonnes in 2021.  Public Realm crews collected 70 tonnes of bonfire material on Halloween weekend itself in 2021 and 33 tonnes of material on the bank holiday weekend prior to Halloween. The tonnage removed from bonfire sites after Halloween has reduced which is consistent with the number of fires held, this figure was 355 tonnes in 2020 and this has decreased to 276 in 2021.  The overall tonnage has increased slightly from 592 tonnes in 2020 to 608 tonnes in 2021.  The overall cost shows a slight increase also however the final figure is estimated at present. 

A comparison of statistics for 2020 and 2021 is set out below.

	2021	2020
Number of bonfires	180	280
Tonnage collected before Halloween	332	237
Tonnage collected after Halloween	276	355
Total tonnage collected	608	592
Total costs	€155,000 (estimated)	€150,000