These problems have developed since the lucrative contract was awarded to Greyhound Recycling which took over from Oxigen at the beginning of the year. Numerous collections have been missed, green bags have not been delivered, incorrect collection dates have been posted on the website and collection calendars have not been distributed.

Colm Stephens, People Before Profit Alliance candidate in the North Inner City in the upcoming local elections says that he continues to be “been inundated with complaints from residents who are frustrated that they cannot recycle their green waste in the normal way. Without the green bags, for example, they cannot leave their waste for collection as Greyhound won’t collect recycling in black bags.” He himself has been promised green bags from Greyhound on two or three occasions but they never materialised. “People are now forced to put recyclable materials into the ordinary bins that go to land-fill” he added.

“Despite assurances from the company that collection problems were a thing of the past, again residents in areas such as Phibsboro and around the North Circular Road were left without a green bin collection this morning as a result of a error in the calendars produced by the company. These problems are a direct result of the introduction of a privatised service after the imposition of bin charges and the cuts to funding of local government. The Council is trying to do the job on the cheap and ordinary people are paying the price with a second class service.”

Colm Stephens says why he supports the Residents of St Michael’s Estate

from Paula Geraghty on Vimeo.

Colm Stephens, People Before Profit candidate in the North Inner City in the upcoming local elections says that he has “been inundated with complaints from residents who are frustrated that they cannot recycle their green waste in the normal way. Without the green bags, for example, they cannot leave their waste for collection as Greyhound won’t collect recycling in black bags.” He himself has been promised green bags from Greyhound on two or three occasions but they never materialised. “People are now forced to put recyclable materials into the ordinary bins that go to land-fill” he added.

Colm, a northsider who lives close to Croke Park and who is standing for the People Before Profit Alliance in the upcoming local elections in the North Inner City Electoral area, commented that “These problems are a direct result of the introduction of a privatised service after the imposition of bin charges and the cuts to funding of local government. The Council is trying to do the job on the cheap and ordinary people are paying the price with a second class service.”

Madam, – Amid news of Gaza, Anglo Irish and Obama, it has been easy to overlook the demise of the Green Party as any sort of a force on environmental issues.

I refer to the recent announcement by first, Dublin Bus and then, Bus Éireann that they are cutting services, withdrawing buses from our streets and roads and laying off workers. Coupled with the announcement in 2008 that the Metro North line is going to be downgraded so that it will carry a form of underground tram rather than real trains (heavy rail) it is now clear that the Greens’ policies on public transport are in tatters.

What other country is reducing public transport in this time and taking steps that encourage more and more commuters to take to their cars and avoid an already underdeveloped and underfunded public transport system? As we all know, Ireland lags far behind other countries in provision of public transport and the resultant increase in car usage is a major cause of the growth in production of greenhouse gases. While the Greens might talk endlessly about doing something about that, they have proved in Government that it was just all hot air. – Yours, etc,

COLM STEPHENS (People Before Profit Alliance, Dublin Central Constituency)
St Patrick’s Terrace,
Dublin 3.