Bliss Today Is.....

[gness]

....meeting the chap with the bag and the picky up gadget...

Today was too nice for the city so playing on the beach won the vote...

Yesterday was the day for families and dogs to enjoy the beach.....and today there is no litter.....not one piece....and no dog poo.....

I saw a chap gathering something and bagging it......he told me it was pieces of broken glass washed ashore.
This is a grand beach for children and dogs.....he told me.....We wouldn't like them to get cut on the glass so a group of us walk the beach and pick up any pieces we see....one of us will be out here every day.

And the litter...I asked....there's none.....

Ah well, we are all doing our bit to make sure we don't leave litter.....you'll find some in the city.......but not much...

Bliss indeed..... :-)

[Psybbo]

That sounds lovely, Gness. Watch out for the seagulls, they are lethal at Howth Head. Glad you're having a great time xx

[Elina]

Hi gness, unsung heroes making a massive difference for the benefit of others x

[jourdain2]

Time the 'unsung' were sung about!

[gness]

Evening, ladies.......it's lovely to be back in Ireland......but to always find it so clean and litter free is true bliss.....

....and talking to people who take responsibility for keeping their bit of it clean and tidy is great.......no moaning and thinking it's up to "someone else" but knowing it's up to each one of us.....

And I have fallen in love again......with a fantastic taxi driver...... :-)

[jourdain2]

'Wheeeeeee! Go, girl, go! BTW I'm picking up litter on the village green to do my bit. :)

[237SJ]

It`s a shame that all of those Irish Travellers have littered and fly tipped their rubbish in this area. Maybe that is why Ireland is so litter free. Sorry but that is the way it is around here.

[gness]

Good on you, J!!

I pick up litter.....the holey bag of runny dog poo was a surprise and a challenge...... but once I'd picked it up I couldn't just drop it.
My walking companion crossed the road.... :-)

[gness]

Go out and pick it up then, 237...if you care....or do you do what the Irish here don't....just leave it and moan?

I have no travellers in my bit of England.......but it's still filthy....

You telling me it's only Irish travellers who litter the English countryside?...Poppycock!

[237SJ]

"Go out and pick it up then" Are you kidding? I`m not talking about a bit of litter. I`m talking about caravan mattresses, used gas cylinders and an awful lot of other rubbish that is dumped around here. Sorry if you don`t like the truth but that is the way it is.

[sunny-dave]

I haven't seen an Irish Traveller in my part of the Midlands for years - but the countryside is a filthy disgrace - litter is omnipresent and plastic detritus festoons the hedges like ghastly cobwebs.

The prime offenders are road users - especially HGV drivers - they regard everything outside their vehicular coccoon as a free range rubbish tip.

The difference in Ireland (judged from two recent extended visits) is astonishing - it has gone from the 'dirty man of Europe' in the 1970s and 1980s (when the rural places were pretty vile) to the cleanest, tidiest public spaces anywhere I've seen for decades.

[sunny-dave]

There are two utterly separate issues here 237SJ - the fly tipping you describe is shocking indeed and needs stamping out - but the general lack of respect for the environment which I see from virtually everyone is in many ways more serious and disappointing. It is fatuous to blame 'travellers' for that.

[237SJ]

Yes, there does seem to be a lot of littering these days. There is a lot of fly tipping as well. I have noticed an increase in both recently. I also have first hand experience of the fly tipping that the Irish Travellers (they have a hard standing here) have done and it is on the increase. That`s a fact and there is no point in denying it.

[askyourgran]

That is nice to hear, the beach would win every time for me. A friend of mine in Dorset is in a group of people who go out with metal detectors to the beach, they also pick up litter.

Does that mean you are trying to get out of paying taxi fares gness? Or did you fastened him in and have your wicked way with him?

[sunny-dave]

I've agreed that fly tipping is a problem - and travellers are often (but certainly not always) to blame for this in some areas.

But gness was talking much more specifically about litter and dogshit - blaming the travellers for this is disingenuous and unhelpful - it's a societal problem that we need to address, as the Irish seem to have done so successfully

[gness]

Hi, Gran....today was my first long walk on the beach.....ours down south are spotless but I did wonder about those close to Dublin.
I was amazed to not see even one bit of litter after a day of families and dogs....dozens of dogs being walked.

It was great to talk to the chap about how everyone...even in the big city....takes responsibility for keeping everywhere litter free. How wonderful if we could do this in England.

The taxi driver....well there were two.....the first charmed me so much I accidentally tipped him 10 euro for a 17 euro tip......got it in the neck from my companions.
The second was a dish....with a gorgeous voice.....I was smitten...but my companions wouldn't let me pay again....... ;-)....I'm not daft....x

[gness]

237...you want truth and facts?

If you took every Irish traveller out of England the country would still be ankle deep in litter, fly tipping and rubbish blowing around the streets..... it's the way it's become in England.

[askyourgran]

No you are not daft gness.. x Bet the taxi drivers love you too.

I have never been to Ireland, we've always said we'd go one day. Once we get our house decorated and the drive and garden re-laid etc etc.... it's all costing a fortune. Now MrAsk has injured his hand so he can't finish the jobs he started.
But I digress... I wish we could get the litter problem sorted out here, plastic bags are a menace.

[gness]

Should have said 10 euro for a 17 euro trip...not tip....I was over generous but he was worth it...

You must come to Irelan, Gran....it is fairly expensive I think but it must be one of the most entertaining and friendly places to visit......

I recall leaving Dublin years ago and seeing every other tree covered in plastic bags.....charging for bags in supermarkets stopped that.....then the widespread introduction of tidy town and tidy village competitions with much publicity put the litter problem in front of everyone......the litter became a thing of the past.

In my village in Kerry my cousin used to go out each morning and sweep the streets.....but we only ever came runner up in the competitions.
The garage with scrap cars....the first building coming into the village...lost us points.....til the year the locals moved the sign for the village putting the garage just outside......that was the year we won!

Hope MrGran's hand improves....is it a long haul?.....x

[ummmm]

It's really expensive in Ireland. We spend a small fortune and we don't have accommodation to pay for.

[tonyav]

Scrap cars !, there's no such thing as a scrap car, gness. There restoration projects don't you know ;-)