Sport

Angling Notes: Removing a ton of rubbish from a Dodder tributary

Volunteer clean-up exposes astonishing levels of dumping, including drums of waste oil

A squirrel carries a plastic cup up a tree above the Dodder. The photographer who took it was one of the volunteers who took part in the recent massive clean-up of the Whitestown Stream. Photograph: John A Stanton

Derek Evans
Mon Feb 14 2022 - 06:00

Following on from my article in December regarding the mammoth task undertaken in Paris on its mysterious canal to find out what exactly lay beneath its murky waters, it appears a similar situation pertains in our own River Dodder in Dublin.

Earlier this month, The Irish Times published a picture of a squirrel carrying a plastic cup up a tree over the Dodder – but this only tells part of the story. The previous day, photographer John A Stanton and a small group of dedicated river keepers removed nearly a ton of rubbish from the Whitestown Stream (a tributary of the Dodder), just above Tallaght.

Volunteers from Dodder Action and Tallaght Litter Mugs joined members of Jobstown Stream Action Group to clean the stream.

The total haul included 63 bags of general rubbish, four TVs, two car batteries, three chairs, a baby seat and buggy, six bikes, an Xbox and two drums of waste oil

“I think this has to be one of our worst sessions yet. Apart from the usual bottles and cans, we collected full bin bags of bottles (many of which had burst), plastics of all descriptions, nappies and rotten vegetables,” John said.

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Almost a ton of rubbish collected in a recent volunteer clean-up of the Whitestown stream, a tributary of the River Dodder in Dublin.

The total haul included 63 bags of general rubbish, four TVs, two car batteries, three chairs, a baby seat and buggy, six bikes, an Xbox, two drums of waste oil (23-litre and five-litre), piles of dog faeces, bones from approximately three full beef carcasses, bag of Red Mills horse feed, two beds, duvets, toys, three artificial Christmas trees (some with lights attached), large quantity of metal fence connectors and an oil radiator.

Most of this had been lying there for at least two weeks. There are still points of access for stolen cars to be brought to the stream and burnt out. Hence the highly toxic car batteries taken from the water.

“But this was only one day and this group has regularly cleaned this stretch since 2016,” he said.

The stream starts in the Tallaght hills and is channelled through Jobstown, Killenarden, and Whitestown in a concrete canal, before forming the lakes and ponds of the Green Flag Sean Walsh Park, and then runs alongside the N81 before joining the Dodder just before the M50.

The Dodder then flows down through Templeogue, Rathgar, Dartry, Milltown, Clonskeagh, Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Irishtown and into the Liffey at Ringsend.

Volunteers regularly gather at weekends to help clean the Jobstown Stream, a tributary of the Dodder.

John has been removing rubbish from the Dodder for over 50 years with various groups, including The Dodder Valley Association founded by his parents after the river flooded their family home in 1965.

There are now linear parks along the banks from where it rises at Kippure to Ringsend. During the pandemic, thousands of people discovered the linear walks and the numbers walking along the Dodder have multiplied many-fold since.

It was during one of these walks that John stopped near Bushy Park to photograph a dipper when he spotted the squirrel climbing up the tree with the plastic cup. It represented to him the amount of plastic that is being dumped into the Dodder on a daily basis and flowing into the Dublin Bay biosphere.

But John is getting tired and feels frustrated that we, as citizens, can dump our household debris into our waterways and rivers and think we are not doing any damage. If either of those cans of waste oil had leaked into the stream, the environmental damage would have been catastrophic and it would have taken years for the stream to be restored.

John will be out again next week with the other dedicated river keepers to clean another stretch of the Whitestown Stream and try to keep the river clean for all its inhabitants.

If you wish to contact John or maybe join the Dodder volunteer clean group, please email johnanthony.stanton@gmail.com.

Recruitment drive

Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a recruitment drive to hire 49 seasonal fisheries officers, with recruitment getting under way immediately. The six-month posts are divided across seven river basin districts, covering 16 counties.

The officers will join teams over the summer months to help protect, conserve and develop fisheries resources working in and around Ireland’s lakes, rivers and coastlines.

Meanwhile, fisheries staff from five districts are lending their support to the recruitment drive and will appear in promotional videos to raise awareness about the new posts.

The agency also plans to launch a second recruitment drive later in the year for seasonal research assistants.

Francis O’Donnell, IFI’s chief executive, said: “Our new officers will be joining us on the front lines. For example, our teams undertake over 30,000 patrols around the clock every year. At the same time, ensure the sustainability of fisheries habitat, enabling access for this generation and for future generations.”

Those interested in applying for the six-month fisheries posts can apply online at fisheriesireland.ie before Monday, February 21st, 2022.

If you have an angling story to share, please send it to me at angling@irishtimes.com.

Dodder Valley Association