Litter legend on Leeside

An anonymous Leeside hero has taken it upon themselves to go about cleaning up the city.

Taking to social media, the proud Corkonian posted a picture of 12 full 80 litre rubbish bags they had recently collected singlehandedly at the Mardyke Walk and adjoining skatepark.

The person said they had contacted Cork City Council and later confirmed that all of the bags had been collected. The post, which was initially shared in order to draw attention to the issue of litter, received a wave of positive feedback.

“Thank you! That's a kind and generous thing to do and Cork is a much better place thanks to your efforts,” commented one reader. A subsequent post asked if readers were interested in setting up a litter crew to tackle particularly bad litter spots in the city with monthly or bimonthly clean-ups.

This too received positive feedback with many readers expressing their gratitude and eagerness to help out.

Responding to comments, the original poster said they enjoy picking up litter but would still like it to stop.

“I find litter picking very therapeutic, so I get great joy out of it myself, though I wouldn't be too upset if the litter just stopped showing up one day. I'll keep picking up litter for as long as I'm able,” they wrote. With recent good weather and indoor hospitality still restricted, littering has become a major issue in both Cork county and city this summer.

Speaking last month, Independent city Cllr Ken O’Flynn praised local volunteers for the work they do and called on Cork’s councils to make it easier for people to dispose of their waste.

“We are told that this summer will be an outdoor one and the Government should have had the foresight to assign increased funding to local authorities for investment in bins, maintenance staff, public toilets and additional street furniture,” he said.