Business owners need to take responsibility for the waste they’re creating and stop heaping the clean-up costs on the taxpayer.

That’s according to a local councillor who said overflowing bins across the city this week exemplified the scale of the problem.

Cllr Colette Connolly (Ind) said there was also a shocking disregard for the environment by those who leave their rubbish on top of already overflowing bins.

“I’m particularly shocked by Salthill in recent weeks where the amount of littering is just unbelievable.

“In all my years, growing up in Galway, I never saw people leaving rubbish on the bins when the bin was clearly full. It’s disgraceful,” she said.

Cllr Connolly said businessowners had to step up to the mark and provide proper facilities for waste disposal because Government wasn’t going to provide the City Council with enough funding to have people collecting rubbish all day and all night.

“There is this attitude that the Council should clean up after everybody, but that’s just not possible. People need to take responsibility for their own actions,” she said.

Meanwhile, Cllr Níall McNelis (Lab), who is chair of the city’s Tidy Towns organisation, said overflowing bins the length and breadth of the city is a “bad look” in the midst of the Arts Festival.

He said despite the best efforts of Council staff, there were issues with litter throughout the city.

“There are 88 bins in the city and they’re already emptied four times a day at great cost to the Council,” said Cllr McNelis.

This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the July 21 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.