What a lovely weekend weather-wise, there was a real feel of spring in the air. With the evenings beginning to stretch and the daffodils beginning to appear I decided it was time to dust off the golf clubs and head to the driving range. Unfortunately every other ”fair weather” golfer had the same idea . On arrival at the range I was welcomed by a large sign “RANGE CLOSED - WE HAVE RUN OUT OF GOLF BALLS”. Disappointed, I decided instead to bring the dog for a walk. I am fortunate to live in County Meath close to quiet country lanes that are great for walking. But there is a problem in our countryside which needs to be addressed and that is the issue of illegal dumping of illegal waste. On Sunday I came across a TV, fridge ,washing machine and assorted bags of household rubbish dumped in the hedgerow. One weekend last year a burnt out car was dumped in a ditch near our house. It saddens me to see the country lanes around Co. Meath becoming the dumping ground for so many of our countrymen and women. This problem is not confined to county Meath, this is a nationwide problem. Who are the culprits? I never see people deliberately throw rubbish away. Most people I know bring home their litter after a day out. Unfortunately not enough people care. As a nation we need to wake up and the take responsibility for the wonderful resource we have within our country. We have a duty of care for future generations to ensure that our environment is maintained and looked after. Tourism is vital to the Irish economy and will be hit badly if our indifferent attitude to the huge litter problem does not change.The following assessment of this country by Johann Keller, an Environmental Auditor who advises Scandinavian travel agents is quite damning.Here’s what he had to say about Ireland: “I have been visiting Ireland since the mid-1980’s and I can say that Ireland has never looked so littered and unclean…. I know from my colleagues with other travel groups in Europe that the unclean state of Ireland is becoming the single most important complaint they receive. Yet, every year that I visit, I hear of more anti-litter projects and, still even with all of these, I find Ireland is getting increasingly more littered year by year. Our Scandinavian customers visit Ireland because of the country’s strongly marketed Green Island image. Golf, fishing and activity holidays in Ireland are quite popular with Swedes, Danes and Norwegians but how long this interest in Ireland remains is now in doubt as we receive more complaints about the polluted rivers and lakes, unclean streets and countryside.”We as hoteliers are not without responsibility. We need to lead by example and embrace environmental strategies in our properties. We need to be leaders in our communities by getting involved in action groups to promote the importance of looking after our surroundings. We need to educate our staff to be aware of the damage litter can do to our tourism Industry.I would like to see our Hotel Managers becoming more active on this issue. We should be active locally, we should get into our schools and educate our children about the importance of tourism to their area and the need to be aware of and protect the environment.It is totally unacceptable that the citizens of the country should be allowed to abuse the countryside to the extent that it is happening today. The tourism industry needs to be more proactive in its approach to the litter problem. We cannot afford to be complacent on this issue; we have more to lose than most”.
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on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 12:35 pm and is filed under General, Prem Group Ireland.
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