There was great shock and concern, in some quarters at least, when the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report for 2021 classified Drogheda as “heavily littered” and placed us 38th out of 40 towns in their survey.
There was outcry at the next Council Borough meeting with calls for a concerted redoubling of efforts from Council workers and volunteers from groups such as Tidy Towns, Lions Club and others.
Topping the IBAL charts that year was Portaloise but the fact that ten years previously they had come last in the rankings gave hope to the Drogheda people concerned that improving the look of our town was not impossible.
In 2022 Eamon Clinton and Gerry Leydon of Drogheda Tidy Towns, along with John McEnteggart and Tony Gallagher from Louth Local Development established a dedicated TUS programme to support the work in improving Drogheda from a litter control and general tidiness perspective.
With the support of Stephen Lynch and Tony Kenny in Louth County Council, Trevor Connolly of Drogheda BIDS and local business people such as Paddy Dwyer and Paul Lappin, the programme has become very well established in the six months it has been operational and is having a very positive impact.
The programme which is sponsored by Drogheda Tidy Towns and managed by Louth Local Development – TUS, in addition to assisting the long-term unemployed by providing short-term meaningful jobs working within community is also addressing improvements that the current voluntary groups or council crews do not have the capacity to get to.
This work has helped enormously in addressing some of the issues outlined in the 2021 IBAL reports.
Together with the many other actions of the Council, BIDS, Chamber and Tidy Towns and working with the people in the town, there has been a good improvement in the general tidiness and litter situation in the town.
“More work has to be done but we are on the right track and with everyone’s support, further improvement will certainly come. The TUS scheme and team are an integral part of this progress” said Gerry Leydon, Chairperson of Drogheda Tidy Towns.
“Since the first scheme workers came on board in October 2022, it has grown to a team of seven. On average, they collect 10 large bags of litter each day. The scheme is already having a very positive impact on the overall look and feel of the town environment through a tidier, cleaner and improved presentation of streets and areas.
“We are very pleased to see the benefits from the TUS scheme and very much appreciate all the work of those involved” Mr. Leydon said and asked that the people of Drogheda to embrace and support the participants and give them every respect as they go about their work in the community.
Vice Chairperson of Tidy Towns, Eamonn Clinton, further commented: “We are actively working to support and expand the work and activities of this important group.
“A new initiative has been identified and will start shortly where the TUS workers will work with residents on the development of a community garden in Rope walk”
