The Laois mattress amnesty is in full swing. It’s proving hugely popular.
That’s a good reflection on the county.
In other countries they are trying to encourage people to hand in their flick-knives and semi-automatic weapons. That sort of puts things in perspective.
Laois people are lovers, not fighters.
Yet, the mattress amnesty is not without its pitfalls and problems. While it is a glorious opportunity to give up your ould …mattresses … for the ould sins, you still have to go to Fr Paddy.
The mattress amnesty got underway on Saturday, August 3, and continues until next Saturday, August 10. This year the amnesty has been extended to include couches.
This may be thanks to a proposal by Cllr Caroline Dwane-Stanley who suggested a few months ago to have couches included. Not everyone was convinced at the time, some of her councillor colleagues even scoffed, ‘What next? Armchairs?’ As it happens, armchairs are included in the amnesty too.
Generally it’s going down very well. Within a day of the mattress, couch and armchair amnesty being announced by Laois County Council there were over 9,000 hits on the item across their social media platforms. That’s a lot of mattresses.
Unfortunately, not everyone is enthused by the same desire to love where they live and keep Laois tidy. Our photo here shows a mattress discarded on the side of the road at the Rathleague just outside Portlaoise this week. Bad form.
Some it seems are only armchair travellers when it comes to handling their unwanted mattresses.
Others it appears wouldn’t stir off the couch to properly dispose of manky mattresses. And obviously when it came to this year’s Laois mattress amnesty there are those who were anxious to get their retaliation in early.
It seems if we expect everyone to abide by common courtesy and respect for their neighbours and the environment, well, we can dream on, albeit on a perfectly good mattress.
Nevertheless, it’s a good initiative and one that most civic spirited citizens have embraced and councillors commended this week the latest effort by the local authority to reintroduce the mattress amnesty so as to encourage the public to stop fly-tipping and damaging the countryside with rubbish and unwanted household goods.
There are three locations in the county for the free mattress and couch amnesty: the Portlaoise Civic Amenity Site; the Brand Central Car Park in Rathdowney and at Pedigree Corner on the N78. The facility applies to domestic customers only and is limited to five mattresses per customer and the furniture and mattresses must be dry.
Cllr Thomasina Connell who along with her Council colleagues welcomed the initiative also encouraged the local authority to promote it and advertise it clearly.
She noted that it wasn’t obvious to everyone for instance that the Portlaoise Civic Amenity Site refers to the recycling area at the Kyletalesha Landfill.
In the interest of clarity it also important to note that while the surrendering of unwanted mattresses at the Kyletalesha Landfill runs until Saturday next, August 10, it only applies at the Rathdowney collection point on Saturday next, August 10 from 10am to 3pm and at the Pedigree Corner location on Saturday, August 24 also from 10am to 3pm.
SEE ALSO – Almost 600 complaints to Laois County Council this year over illegal dumping
