Dirty Old Town

Goodne

Hi all, just wondering if anyone has any opinions on the current cleanliness of Portlaoise town? The top square was a disgrace all weekend; completely covered in rubbish. Whats going on?? I am glad I had no visitors for the bank holiday weekend because there is no way I would have brought them anywhere near the town.

jack of all

The budget allocation for street cleaning has been reduced with consequent results. Personally I think the previous arrangement was counter productive- the street cleaning time were in action well before 7am and all the litter was gone before most people were on the streets. This may somehow have given the general public the impression that "we" are cleaner and tidier than "we" think. I hate littering, can't understand those who do it but why should we waste millions each year cleaning it up? I despair when I see some very young children dropping litter without any regard. Rant over!

goat2

i have been there
did not see anything wrong with the place

for one who might be moving to portlaoise
what is there in the line of rental apartments or houses, say one or two bedroomed,
and what kind or rent would one be expected to pay

Augmerson

The town would be fine if people didn't fall out of pubs at half 2 in the morning, start pissing all over the place, kicking over flower baskets etc and leaving their pizza boxes and chip bags all over the place.

I think the Co. Council budget should not be spent on cleaning up other peoples messes, but rather have warden's on the street catching people littering. Caught littering? 200 euro fine.

Watch the town clean up then.

goat2

Augmerson wrote: »

The town would be fine if people didn't fall out of pubs at half 2 in the morning, start pissing all over the place, kicking over flower baskets etc and leaving their pizza boxes and chip bags all over the place.

I think the Co. Council budget should not be spent on cleaning up other peoples messes, but rather have warden's on the street catching people littering. Caught littering? 200 euro fine.

Watch the town clean up then.

you are so right
charge them with asbos and 200 euro along with a bit cleaning up thrown in for good measure
it would be spick and span
as you say nothing wrong with the place, just a few fools getting pissed and wreaking havoc, i guess these same people are not your hard worker either, just living of the hard workers,
save the taxpayer and as you say have people out there with their camera catch them in action and make them pay,

Goodne

ok so you right; its not everyone making a mess, just a few & you are definetely right they should be fined & made clean up. But if thats not happening surely the council can't turn a blind eye to the mess thats there. I was disgusted at the state of the place at the weekend. Is there any pride left in the town??

Augmerson

I always felt that Portlaoise sorely lacked any real sense of community spirit or pride. It's just not that kind of town and I think it's a Midlands problem. Just my opinion. Only time I see people come together is sporting events, like say if the GAA teams are doing well and that is always temporary. Other than that, most people around the town despise each other and talk bad of each other behind each other's back.

MickShamrock

Augmerson wrote: »

Other than that, most people around the town despise each other and talk bad of each other behind each other's back.

+1. This is definitely the case.

gogo

Augmerson wrote: »

I always felt that Portlaoise sorely lacked any real sense of community spirit or pride. It's just not that kind of town and I think it's a Midlands problem. Just my opinion. Only time I see people come together is sporting events, like say if the GAA teams are doing well and that is always temporary. Other than that, most people around the town despise each other and talk bad of each other behind each other's back.

I dont think its a midlands thing, look at abbeyleix/durrow both have a town cleaning night on tuesdays, if your around at seven, head out and lend a hand, always loads of people from all areas out with the sweeping brushes. You'll see this just from driving through. Both towns had festivals with hugh turnouts this year, community spirit in obundance.

Portlaois is a large town, and like all large towns there is only so much that can be done to gather people together. Smaller midland towns know there neighbours. Large towns dont, and therefore a kind of apathy occurs towards areas that dont involve them. Im sure there are a lot of residential committees in Port laoise that keep there own areas clean, the main street is predominatley shops and has no one really to take the initatave to keep it clean.

As for most people in Portlaoise despising each other, personally find that weird, and presuming its gross generalisation? 14000 people can't all hate each other?

ILA

Community Spirit is very fragmented in Portlaoise. There are some excellent Residents Associations in estates like Esker Hills, Fairgreen, etc. but the only voluntary effort in the town centre is the small Tidy Towns Association.

There are only 2 Litter Wardens who cover the entire county, and work only 9 to 5, and the budget for street sweepers has been wiped out in all towns except Portlaoise and a odd sweep in Mountmellick. However, most harm is caused by intoxicated yobs leaving licensed premises at unruly hours. Gardai have the power to fine people for littering, and as of last year they have a state-of-the-art CCTV system constantly monitored in the control room so they have evidence of littering to support any firms.

But I've never heard of a single fine being given out but I suppose at that hour it's hard enough for them to keep the yobs from killing one another, let alone stop them from dirtying the place up.

Augmerson

gogo wrote: »

I dont think its a midlands thing, look at abbeyleix/durrow both have a town cleaning night on tuesdays, if your around at seven, head out and lend a hand, always loads of people from all areas out with the sweeping brushes. You'll see this just from driving through. Both towns had festivals with hugh turnouts this year, community spirit in obundance.

Portlaois is a large town, and like all large towns there is only so much that can be done to gather people together. Smaller midland towns know there neighbours. Large towns dont, and therefore a kind of apathy occurs towards areas that dont involve them. Im sure there are a lot of residential committees in Port laoise that keep there own areas clean, the main street is predominatley shops and has no one really to take the initatave to keep it clean.

As for most people in Portlaoise despising each other, personally find that weird, and presuming its gross generalisation? 14000 people can't all hate each other?

It would be a gross generalisation on my part to suggest everybody despises each other in the town but I'm not suggesting that. In recent years, Portlaoise has changed alot and I think that the changes have been for the better. There has been a large influx of people from Dublin and other counties commuting from Portlaoise to work in Dublin and also alot of people came from Eastern Europe and from Africa and even Asia during the Boom years.

I think there is still some resentment by people to each other which is unique to the town, I think Portlaoise has a strange mentality, it is really a small town that think's it's a big town. Everybody know's each other or know's of each other. Certain areas of the town were looked down upon because of council housing or the people living around there and where you grew up often had a big impact on what kind of emphasis on education you recieved, what job you took later on. Some people stuck to their own, always drank in the same pubs with the same people just as they hung around with the same people in school and carried on with the same parochial notions about each other.

You are right though, I do think that the sheer size of Portlaoise means it's too big at times to foster neighbourly relations like in Durrow and Abbeyleix. The Main Street is just all shops, nobody really lives there but it is still a highly visible part of the town. There is a Tidy Towns squad in Portlaoise but they are really fighting a losing battle it seems at times. As we've mentioned before, not only are there the problems with drunken yobs but also just wanton vandalism from social delinqunets.

ILA wrote: »

Community Spirit is very fragmented in Portlaoise. There are some excellent Residents Associations in estates like Esker Hills, Fairgreen, etc. but the only voluntary effort in the town centre is the small Tidy Towns Association.

There are only 2 Litter Wardens who cover the entire county, and work only 9 to 5, and the budget for street sweepers has been wiped out in all towns except Portlaoise and a odd sweep in Mountmellick. However, most harm is caused by intoxicated yobs leaving licensed premises at unruly hours. Gardai have the power to fine people for littering, and as of last year they have a state-of-the-art CCTV system constantly monitored in the control room so they have evidence of littering to support any firms.

But I've never heard of a single fine being given out but I suppose at that hour it's hard enough for them to keep the yobs from killing one another, let alone stop them from dirtying the place up.

I think opening hours should be reviewed for pubs and nightclubs in the town. Turning out en masse up to 1,000 people on a fairly good Saturday night onto the town at 2:30 is just asking for trouble and has a huge knock-on effect for the Gardai who have to police the town, the Hospital's A&E ward and the local Court that is tied up with cases of people brawling.

I know the power or inclination isn't there to make the changes by either the Gardai, County Council or Gov't but I would also suggest that nightclubs that stay open late have to pay into some kind of community benefit fund that would go toward cleaning up the streets, but, that isn't really fair.

As aware I am of how mucn money the owners are making from crowds on a weekend, the owners themselves aren't pissing in doorways and leaving pizza boxes on the street. They would just pass any incurred cost onto the punter in any case.

goat2

there are some beautiful apartment blocks dotted around the town, in every town in this country there are the good the bad and the ugly population, and it is so hard to clear up these problems, there should be strict asbos control, with nice big penalties, hit where it hurt, the pocketi was in a restaurant about 2 weeks ago, had a most beautiful lunch, it had a deli and also had seating upstairs, the food was absolutely fab, it is a fine town, so central with a bus service right into the city of dublin, portlaoise has alot more to offer than other places so be proud of your town

Bicky

I think there is still some resentment by people to each other which is unique to the town, I think xxxxxxxx has a strange mentality, it is really a small town that think's it's a big town. Everybody know's each other or know's of each other. Certain areas of the town were looked down upon because of council housing or the people living around there and where you grew up often had a big impact on what kind of emphasis on education you recieved, what job you took later on. Some people stuck to their own, always drank in the same pubs with the same people just as they hung around with the same people in school and carried on with the same parochial notions about each other.

I am not saying you are wrong, but what you have described is Irish culture in general. Replace xxxx with the name of any similarly sized regional town.
As goat says Portlaoise is not bad in terms of shops and infrastructure.

Augmerson

I guess your right about it being not just a thing in Portlaoise but an Irish thing really. I do like the town, it's my home and I have alot of friends and family still there though I now work and live in Dublin

But to get back on topic, I think if more people had more pride in the town, it wouldn't get thrashed as much.

goat2

what do you mean by trashedare there a very rough element living there that have no respect for others and their propertywhat about the guards, dont they man these streets at night and issue asbos i have only ever been there in the daytime, and i find it a nice place with lots to offer, and so central to everywhereit is a pity this is happening

ILA

goat2 wrote: »

what do you mean by trashedare there a very rough element living there that have no respect for others and their propertywhat about the guards, dont they man these streets at night and issue asbos i have only ever been there in the daytime, and i find it a nice place with lots to offer, and so central to everywhereit is a pity this is happening

The Gardai are around a good bit, at the weekend they actually ensure that there's enough manpower to cover for eventualities and have a dedicated Public Order Van in the Main Street if anything kicks off. People need to call them before they can take action, which a lot of people hesitate in doing. I remember a few years ago they used to be a but lethargic in responding, but they've improved significantly in the last two years.

The District Court is like a conveyor belt, processing a variety of crimes, and its open to the public if you get a spare hour on Thursdays or Fridays to see for yourself what the system is dealing with. I've been in several times as part of my Legal Studies course and you'll see the same people pass through the system every few weeks.

Litter is the least of the Courts priorities I'd say, given some of the offences that come up.

goat2

can people who are repaet offenders not been shown the road out of town, it should not matter whether they live there or not, if they are causing distress for others they are nothing but a nuisance, are the courts not harsh enough then that they are reoffending, it must be hard on the police to see these get off easy, while the police are doing their best, it is great to hear that they are coming down heavier in the past two yrs,