Dublin City Council has issued a warning as it rolls out drones to spot Halloween bonfire stockpiles.
As samhain approaches, DCC has revealed that they will be using drones to monitor 'known stockpiling sites' across Dublin for bonfire materials.
DCC’s Halloween working group, which is made up of representatives from the public domain, community development and housing departments, as well as with gardaí, explained to councillors how they would be using 'authorised drone flights' to monitor the city.
It commented: "This has proved effective in identifying large-scale storage in previous years."
Any material identified will be removed by the group with co-ordination by the Gardaí, with the public also being encouraged to report any suspected stockpiling.
The group has already identified and removed eight stockpiles, with an increase in this number expected.
The council will use formal reports and anecdotal information alongside the drones in order to identify any hoarding of material.
Additionally, private contractors have also been brought in on a local or out-of-hours basis to support the council’s efforts.
Debby Clarke, DCC’s community and social development officer for Cabra/Glasnevin, told councillors that stopping bonfires was a 'major task' which required co-ordination from the fire brigade, gardaí and community services.
She added: “It is a very complex issue to try and stop bonfires – it’s a huge culture in Dublin and Ireland, and it’s not something that can be tackled very easily."
Independent councillor Cieran Perry said he was 'more than aware' of these challenges.
“We were successful on a number of occasions, we’ve stopped the bonfire on Drumcliffe Road, we’ve stopped the bonfire in the Cattle Market.
“So it can be done with a bit of effort, but when we surrender the space to the people who damage our community, that’s the problem I have.”
Perry further added that there was a lack of enforcement city wide with respect to collecting bonfire materials in certain areas.
“Anyone that travels through Cabra/Glasnevin will see people leaving bonfire material outside their houses, which is illegal.
He continued to say 'it’s worth the effort to let people know and issue fines, and let people know there’s fines issued'.
The public are being encouraged to report any stockpiling to the council by emailing litter.central@dublincity.ie.
