A Raphoe man’s remarkable volunteering efforts have been highly praised by Donegal County Council.
Christy Murray, best known as the Donegal Piper, has been completing a massive clean-up operation since March of this year.
The music teacher is a regular feature at Donegal GAA matches, but during Covid-19 he put his songbook down to turn to a new project – clearing the roadsides on the approaches to Raphoe of litter.
One special project he took on was to clean a small wooded area just outside Raphoe. Some of the litter and rubbish removed from this area was up to 70 years old.
Christy Murray who carried out a massive voluntary clean up of the roadsides on the approach road to Raphoe.
The roadside after the Clean-up.
This week the Council’s Litter Warden, Mobile Litter Unit and the Roads Section ensured that all the waste collected by Christy over the past number of months was removed from the site. A total of 4 tonnes of waste including 347 bags of litter was collected by Christy over this time.
Donegal County Council would like to recognise the community spirit shown by Christy in improving his locality for the community as a whole. His efforts have been praised as a shining example of the spirit shown by volunteers throughout the county on a daily basis.
Christy Murray (pictured left) who carried out a remarkable clean up of a wooded area just outside Raphoe.
At this time, Donegal County Council wish to also thank the 5,500 volunteers in community groups and Tidy Towns Committees in Donegal who work tirelessly in collaboration with the Council in our journey to ensuring that Donegal is the cleanest and greenest county in Ireland.
Donegal County Council would like to encourage any member of the public who has information regarding any instance of littering or unauthorised waste activity to call 074 91 53900 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4.30pm on Friday. In addition, outside of the Council’s office hours or where a member of the public may wish to report an issue directly to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), they can make a report through the National Environmental Complaints Line on 1850 365121 or via the EPA’s “See it? Say it?” smartphone app. These services operate on a 24-hour basis. Donegal County Council is committed to thoroughly investigating all reports received.