Laois town set for biggest Spring clean in the Midlands

Big plans for lots of spring cleaning in Portarlington in what's claimed to be the biggest project of its type in Laois, Offaly, Longford or Westmeath.

Portarlington Tidy Towns is holding its annual spring clean from 10am to noon on Saturday 6 April as part of Clean Up Laois Week 2024. Communities right around Laois will swing into action during the week which runs through the first week April 1-5 with the support of Laois County Council and Bord na Móna.

However, Portarlington claim to be mounting the biggest effort.

"It is the largest of its kind in the midlands made up of over 20 individual cleans ups in the town and surrounding areas," said a statement announcing the initiative.

The event organiser David Maher explains why the Port project is so extensive.

"We get people to organise a clean up of just their own road or estate and by pooling the efforts of all those groups we are able to make a huge difference on the day. Although it is great to get the community involved and the town itself is actually quite clean the real problems is on the edges of the town and on the approach roads"

"Portarlington is lucky that we have great community spirit which has made this event so successful over the past 20 years. The Town of Portarlington itself as progressed so much over the last number of years with a number of derelict sites now hosting new schools, sport facilities, housing estates and thriving businesses. The cleanup event is really about making our town a better place - somewhere people are proud to live and come from," said Mr Maher.

There'll be free tea and coffee event for all those who give a hand in SOLAS Eco Garden Shop at 2pm on the day. Anyone wishing to include their area in the clean up, pleaser contact David Maher (Portarlington Tidy Towns - 086 3475357).

Meanwhile, the Council is asking local communities to spring into action to join the fight against litter again this year. Groups, communities, neighbours and friends who have registered with the Council's Environment Section have received free packs of bags, gloves and litter pickers to help with their litter picks.

The collected litter will be gathered by Bord na Mona Recycling free in the week after the clean-up is completed i.e. from April  8 to 12.

Laois County Council says acknowledges the great work done by all groups involved and would encourage the public to be extra vigilant in their own areas, by reporting any litter offences, unauthorised waste collectors, or fly tipping on the confidential freephone litter hotline – 1800 32 32 30.

There is an information booklet for hosting a clean up with handy tips and health and safety advise, you can download it here: Clean up Laois week booklet. More below picture.

Mary McGill, Bord na Móna, Cllr Paschal McEvoy, LCC Cathaoirleach, and Binjy launch Clean Up Laois Week 2024. Pic: Alf Harvey

Over the past 25 years, the National Spring Clean operated by An Taisce has been focused on the message of the collective responsibility we share in tackling and preventing our national litter problem. Laois County Council says that by participating in organised clean-ups, groups and individuals of all ages play a significant role in reducing litter and protecting biodiversity across Ireland while also bringing communities together.

Over the last 25 years, 12 million hours of volunteering were contributed and an estimated 47,500 tonnes of litter across Ireland have been collected.

Throughout this year’s campaign, National Spring Clean also hopes to encourage participants to think about what they can do to reduce their consumption and waste outputs. 

Each year this partnership approach to tackling the ongoing litter problem receives so much support from local residents, community groups, businesses and schools and is a testament to the community spirit that this initiative fosters.