COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 15, 2024

QUESTION NO.10

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the CEO if he can now reveal the costs of his operation to deal with the issues relating to Halloween Bonfires and will he make a statement? 

REPLY:

The collection of bonfire materials commenced in August/September 2023 and as in other years the majority of material stockpiles which were intercepted were removed by Public Realm staff in the two to three week period prior to Halloween itself.  There were 213 bonfires recorded this year which is up slightly from the 184 bonfires recorded in 2022, the number is still largely in keeping with the reduction in the numbers which occurred from previous years where 280 were recorded in 2020 and over 300 were recorded in some recent years. 

The tonnages of bonfire materials collected before and after the event have been reviewed, with 308 tonnes of materials intercepted before reaching a bonfire and 290 tonnes of burnt waste collected after the event.  Overall costs to date associated with both the interception of the material prior to burning and of the clean up of bonfire sites post Halloween currently stands at over €140,000 and this is expected to rise to over €150,000 when all costs have been included.  It is not possible to provide information on the final costs at this time as the cost associated with reinstatement of sites where this is necessary is not known and will not be known until the reinstatement work is completed once ground conditions have firmed up.