March Springs a Litter Campaign Across Kilkenny

It’s time for communities to come out in force to litter pick and give back to their local area by registering for “Let’s Team Up to Clean Up, Together for Kilkenny”. The initiative is financially supported by John O Shea Trust, Dawn Meats, Panda, PRL, Glanbia Plc and Tirlán. It’s being organised by Kilkenny County Council.

Originally planned for early February, it will now take place over a weekend in March, as ground conditions will be more favourable to plant pollinator friendly flowering bulbs. Bulb planting was part of last October’s pilot event which proved very popular with all volunteers so this aspect of the initiative is being repeated this March. A slight change to the initiative is its duration, as volunteers reported that the October event which took place over a three-hour window on a particular day was too restrictive. Therefore, schools and work places are invited to participate on Friday, the 24th of March and all other registered groups can decide the optimal time to assemble to pick litter in their neighbourhood over the weekend of the 25th/26th of March.

All types of groups are welcome to participate in this event and a special incentive is being offered for early registrations as sports clubs, schools, residents associations, community groups and workplaces who register before the 10th of February will be entered into a draw for 5 cash prizes of €250.

Kilkenny County Council is aiming to have 200 groups litter picking over the weekend of the 24th of March and the safety of all the volunteers is of most importance. In this regard, as it is necessary to restrict all litter picking activities to speed zones of 60km per hour or less as a health and safety measure. The registration portal is open for groups to register is open on https://cleanup.kilkenny.ie/.

Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Pat Fitzpatrick commented, “I am delighted that the experience of the pilot event last October has shaped the county wide initiative into a more volunteer friendly event and I encourage groups to register. It’s a marvellous opportunity for groups to come together and litter pick a local area. Strewn litter is an eye sore and this initiative creates an opportunity for neighbourhoods to tackle litter black spots in preparation for the summer”.

Participating groups will receive a litter picking pack, which will be theirs to keep. Each group is required to nominate a person to attend a brief health and safety session prior to the group receiving their litter pack. Kilkenny City groups who participated last year will be offered bags and gloves as required, in addition to their bag of pollinator friendly flowering bulbs.

Sean McKeown, Chief Executive, commented “I am delighted to see this initiative happening across the county this spring and I commend our corporate sponsors for sharing our vision of this ambitious community driven environmental initiative. Without the support of the John O Shea Trust, Dawn Meats, Panda, PRL, Glanbia Plc and Tirlán, Kilkenny County Council would not be able to organise such an impressive environmental initiative”.