Delvin"s "Residents Against Illegal Dumping"

Dear Editor, This is an open letter from R.A.I.D. (Residents Against Illegal Dumping), which already has in excess of 70 members, to the individuals who insist on destroying our environment.Dumping their filth on public and private property in and around the Delvin area.The type of materials being dumped range from every day household waste to dead dogs, dead swans, dead sheep and other farm animals, deer heads and entrails, car parts, etc.The resulting rat infestation and pollution seems to be of little or no concern to the perpetrators of this filthy behaviour.We hearby give fair and clear warning that anyone found to be involved in illegal dumping in any way, will be prosecuted, named and shamed in local media and where the offence was committed. The courts will not accept excuses like - "I gave it to my ex-boyfriend to get rid of it for me" -"there is no refuse collection on our road" - "we always dump our rubbish there". Times change and although it may have been tolerated in the past, it is no longer acceptable in any way shape or form.It is the responsibility of each member of our community to dispose of their waste material in a responsible manner.Anyone offering to collect or dispose of your waste without a license to do so is breaking the law and so are you for giving it to them. This material invariably ends up being dumped on quiet stretches of road, country lanes or anywhere else where it is difficult to catch these rat feeders.Have a little pride in your countryside, there is not a lot of it left and if current trends persist there won"t be a mile of unspoiled countryside left anywhere for any of us to enjoy.The people who are doing this kind of damage think that they are anonymous, they are not. We have the full support of the Garda Siochana, the County Council, Bord na Mona, the environment agency, not to mention all the people who are too numerous to mention here and who have assisted in the clean-up operation so far.We will do everything in our power to stop this filthy crime in our area including covert C.C.T.V. systems, regular patrols, stake outs, etc. for ourselves, for our kids, for the environment, for wildlife and for God"s sake, please stop dumping from now on.A concerned Delvinresidentraiddelvin@gmail.com