Council crews were called out to the Beara Peninsula this week after fly-tippers left a freezer full of rotting meat and other rubbish at a scenic West Cork beauty spot.
The discarded freezer was found dumped in the Beara Bowl, a well-known landmark along the Wild Atlantic Way near Allihies.
The freezer has been there since before Christmas and was full of spoiled meat when it was dumped. The smell only got worse as it lay there, and it was thanks to the help of a few locals with strong stomachs that it was removed this week.
The dumped rubbish collected by residents
(Image: Cllr Finbarr Harrington)
The fly-tippers dumped the freezer a few days after the power cut on the Toy Show weekend. It’s believed the freezer didn’t regain power after the outage, causing the meat to spoil, so the owners decided to dump it rather than clear it out.
Local County Councillor Finbarr Harrington said this latest instance of fly-tipping beggars belief, describing the practice as ‘absolutely disgraceful’.
Cllr Harrington told CorkBeo the Beara Bowl is actually a bit of a hotspot for fly-tipping, with locals finding rubbish dumped there every couple of months.
The rural location and lack of CCTV coverage make it very difficult to pinpoint who is behind it. No envelopes or other identifying items were found in the rubbish.
Cllr Harrington pointed out that a civic amenity site is available less than a half-hour’s drive from the area where the rubbish was dumped. These sites allow people to dispose of all sorts of rubbish, and they’re not particularly expensive to use.
Cllr Harrington thanked locals for reporting the dumping to him and gave particular thanks to resident Quinn Martin, who dragged the foul-smelling freezer up the roadside to make it easier for council crews to collect it.