Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

We’re all familiar with the phrase, ‘use it or lose it’. But when it comes to street litter bins, Galway City Council’s policy is ‘misuse it and you’ll lose it’.

City Hall confirmed to this newspaper last week that it removed a litter bin at the Small Crane back the West, “following ongoing and significant misuse”.

The Council claimed that the bin “was routinely filled with domestic and commercial waste, preventing it from serving its intended purpose for general street litter”.

It has emerged that the removal of bins was highlighted as problematic for months by the Galway Westend Traders Association.

As far back as last May, the business representative organisation complained to the Council about taking away bins from the Small Crane, Raven Terrace, and Fr Burke Park.

It didn’t make sense, because there were so few litter bins back the West to begin with. And the Mary Byrne Playground on Henry Street is possibly the only city playground without a litter bin.

Yet the response from the authorities was to remove bins rather than install more.

Galway Westend claimed littering has increased in the area.

The removal of a bin at Raven Terrace was particularly problematic, it said. People now throw rubbish over the wall at Raven Terrace, into the canal. And there is also an increase in discarded dog poo bags.

It’s hard to imagine how anyone would go to the trouble of picking up their pet’s poo and put it in a bag, only to discard it on the street again anyway. But when you remove bins, you remove options from people to do the responsible thing.

Trying to get a handle on how many bins the Council has recently removed due to so-called ‘misuse’ was not straightforward.

The local authority said the location and quantity of street bins were ‘constantly monitored’ by its staff.

“Bins are sometimes installed or removed on a trial basis at different locations throughout the city, and the impact on street litter is then assessed.

“Monitoring of these areas will continue, and the reinstatement of a bin at the original location or nearby will be reviewed as part of that process.

“They may also be taken off-site for maintenance or temporarily removed to allow access for events, and reinstatement occurs afterwards,” the Council said.

Around the same time the Small Crane bin was removed, Galway City Councillors approved €175,000 in Budget 2026 for an anti-dumping initiative.

Businesses facing higher commercial rates and homeowners paying increased Local Property Tax would probably prefer if that money was spent on more bins that might actually reduce littering.

There appears to be an attitude in City Hall that bins attract rubbish, and fewer bins means less rubbish. Not so.

Nobody would condone use of litter bins for domestic or commercial waste. But let the Council deal with the perpetrators of this illegal dumping in a targeted way, not by punishing everyone for the crimes of a few.

Pictured: Galway politicians’ women’s caucus Christmas cheer . . . Mary Hoade, Eileen Mannion, Terry O’Flaherty, Clodagh Higgins, Mary Byrne, and Evleyn Parsons get into the festive spirit in Clifden, the night before the celebrity wedding at Abbeyglen Castle Hotel.