Dundalk Tidy Towns and louth County Council agree closer co-operation following litter survey

D U n DAL k Tidy Towns recently met with Louth County Council to discuss the results of IBAL AntiLitter League Survey results.

The group had asked for a meeting with the local authority following the recent IBAL survey which saw Dundalk drop to the bottom of the table this making it the worst littered town in Ireland according to

IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter). According to a statement from Dundalk Tidy Towns, there was broad agreement from Louth County Council to help improve the issue of littering in the town.

“We thank Louth County Council for their swift response to our request for a meeting and their cooperation in dealing with the results.

“In the hours after the release of the results, Dundalk Tidy Towns issued a response and promised to keep the people of Dundalk up to date.

“There was broad agreement at the meeting that Louth County Council will work closely with Dundalk Town BIDS and Dundalk Tidy Towns to improve the performance of Dundalk in the survey.

“We agreed a number of actions as follows:

Dundalk Tidy Towns volunteers will collaborate with Louth County

Council outdoor staff to ensure that as much of the town is cleaned regularly as possible. This includes greater collaboration on weed and litter management.

Landowners containing clothing banks will be contacted to ensure that these are properly maintained or, if appro- priate, removed. Louth County Council will undertake a survey of clothing banks across the town to ensure management.

Dundalk Tidy Towns will regularly patrol areas named on the survey to ensure they are clean.

Louth County Council will review areas known to be litter blackspots and deal with them appropriately.

Dundalk Tidy Towns will plant and maintain areas of the Longwalk once cleared by Louth County Council.

“Dundalk Tidy

Towns will continue to engage with Louth County Council on issues as they arise across Dundalk.

“Dundalk Tidy Towns will be launching a litter initiative inviting all local businesses to sign up in the near future. In the meantime, we ask them to be mindful of litter on or around their premises.

“Once again,we thank the wonderful volunteers and residents Associations across Dundalk who give their time to love where they live. We thank Louth County Council staff, particularly outdoor staff and contractors who look after our town on a daily basis.

“We also thank Dundalk Town BIDS and Dundalk Chamber for their support and work for the town.

“We have been inundated with messages of support and encouragement from the people of Dundalk since the results were released.

“We greatly appreciate them and encourage everyone to play their part in keeping Dundalk a Tidy Town,” concluded the statement from Dundalk Tidy Towns.

Logan’s flying debut in Mondello

LOGAn Hoey, from Channnonrock made quite the impression when he made his motor racing debut at Mondello Park last weekend.

The Patrician High School student, along with his father Anthony, built a car for the Patch Tyre equipment Junior MInI Challenge in the weeks running up to the event, only finishing the car at the circuit the day before the race meeting.

Despite this, Logan was immediately on the pace, going second fastest in the Free Practice session before qualifying. In his first ever qualifying session, Logan took third place, before going one better, crossing the line in second at the end of the opening race. even more impressive was his pace. Despite his complete lack of experience, his fastest lap was just over half a second off that of race winner and championship leader Bobby-Joe McFall.

In the second race of the day, Logan, who only turned 14 last month managed to take the lead early on to the delight of his family and supporters. At the flag. the delighted Dundalk driver was second once again, and this time his fastest lap was a mere three tenths off the fastest.

The Louth area has a long history of producing some of the fastest drivers in the country, with Tommy Byrne famously being named as being faster then Senna, by eddie Jordan and Brian Hearty having won more races than anyone else in the history of Mondelllo Park. With the likes of kian O’Brien, who is a front runner in the Fiesta ST Championship, and now young Logan Hoey, it seems that this trend won’t end any time soon!

The Language of Trees

JOIn us in Dundalk library for a conversation with louth native, katie Holten, on Tuesday 25th July at 6:00pm as she discusses her latest book, “The language of Trees” calling it a love letter to our vanishing world. all are welcome and there is no booking required. This event will also be livestreamed via Crowdcast here: https://crowdcast.io/c/ svtmb1q7d5ps.

FunDInG of €7 million has been allocated to louth County Council to target vacancy and dereliction in the towns of Drogheda and Dundalk. The funding is provided by the Department of Housing, local Government and Heritage under the Call 3 uRDF funding stream.

The URDF is a flagship element of Project Ireland 2040 and call 3 is key action in the Government’s Vacant Homes action

Plan2023. The third call is specifically designed to address long term vacancy and dereliction across the country and encourage activation of vacant properties and to bring stock back into productive use. This initiative is also in support of objectives under the revised Housing for all and Town Centre First policy. Chief Executive of louth County Council, Ms. Joan Martin said “We are delighted to receive the allocation of €7m from the uRDF, this will enable louth County Council to progress our work in activating vacant and derelict properties in Drogheda and Dundalk which are designated as regional growth centres. Bringing these properties back into residential use will add renewed vibrancy and vitality into our towns. This programme complements existing schemes already in place to tackle vacancy and dereliction”.

The funding will provide for the acquisition of vacant/derelict properties which are either not on the market for sale or to which the market has not responded. It is intended that properties could be acquired by agreement or under the CPO process and then offered for private sale to individuals, who in return will commit to bringing the prop- erty into use as a home. Proceeds from the sale of these properties will ensure a rolling long term programme of acquisitions and disposals is in place. The funding allocation is based on a list of properties provided by louth County Council that have been identified as long term vacant and/or derelict and which may be suitable for activation using the revolving fund.