This was a landmark year for Dublin City Council’s (DCC) waste management workers. For the first time their St. Patrick’s Day clean up ran a full hour ahead of schedule, leaving the city noticeably cleaner than previous years. A feat achieved through considered organisation, increased resourcing, and the exemplary teamwork of DCC workers on the day.

Over 450 waste management workers volunteered to work 12 hour shifts over the weekend. With some volunteering for additional overtime hours, others giving up rest days, and more coming in from peripheral depots to support their city centre colleagues in the challenging task of keeping Dublin clean during the festivities.

St. Patrick’s Day has long been held as the most important day in the Irish calendar for culture, tourism, and our national image. It has grown year-on-year to become a full-weekend, whole-island festival, the jewel in the crown of which is the Dublin parade and the surrounding festivities, with more people attending than anywhere else on the island. 

As the festivities have grown so has the task of organisation and the expectations for public safety and cleanliness. At the heart of that effort is DCC’s waste management workers. 

Municipal Employees’ division member and DCC waste management supervisor, Paddy Stack has been on the ground on St. Patrick’s Day for the past 18 years. 

Looking back, Paddy can see how much their efforts have improved, he said: “In 2006 it was really bad. You couldn’t see the ground in Temple Bar for bottles and cans. We’ve come a long way since then.”

For Paddy, one of this year’s greatest successes was the decision to have workers work in pairs rather than alone.  

He said, “We doubled up this year, two to a van. It really helped. Last year we would have to call for help, and staff could be caught on the opposite side of the city.”

Increasing resources makes all the difference. Fellow DCC waste management worker, Kevin O’Toole said: “There were 18 on our team last year, that went to 25 this year. It really makes a difference.”

He added, “It always comes back to staffing. Day-to-day we could do with more in the team. The city’s getting bigger. You can see it; there’s more and more people around the city.”

Kevin would also like to see other events around Dublin receive greater resources. He pointed to match days and concerts at Croke Park as well as large events like Dublin Pride as a regular issue for workers.

Fórsa official Jay Power said: “The work of our members on St. Patrick’s Day shows what can be achieved when services are properly staffed. Now we need to see that extra resourcing go into the day-to-day.”

“As Kevin said, the city’s getting bigger, but staffing isn’t rising to meet the work.”

“This cleaning operation was a success because workers stepped up and did the work. But as the everyday work mounts up, you’re going to see less and less capacity for workers to do that.”

“If you don’t have workers in place, it won’t be long before we’re back in 2006 and trudging through streets carpeted with cans and bottles.”

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