Bags of dumped horse manure in a green area near the Royal Canal in Dublin 7.
The Morning Lead
Locals and councillors have called for action on the ongoing issue of illegal dumping of horse manure in Dublin.
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has said it has no plans to reintroduce a horse manure disposal service after locals and councillors called for action on the ongoing issue of illegal dumping of horse manure in the Cabra-Glasnevin area.
A local resident told The Journal on Monday that she saw “57 bags of horse manure” dumped in a green area by the Royal Canal in Dublin 7 last Thursday, and said they were still there Monday.
Councillors said the problem of illegal dumping of horse manure has worsened since the council shut down a horse manure disposal service at Sweeney’s Terrace, Dublin 8, last year, citing health and safety reasons.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Séamas McGrattan estimated that over 500 bags of horse manure have been dumped in Cabra alone in the past six weeks.
However, the council has told The Journal it is “currently not considering the reintroduction of horse manure disposal facilities at our Sweeney’s Terrace cleansing depot or indeed any other facility”.
It also suggested it will not use the illegally dumped manure as fertiliser.
“It is often suggested that horse manure should be used for compost and could be given or dropped off at locations for use by parks etc; however, contrary to popular belief, raw untreated horse manure is not generally recommended for use on flower beds/allotments or in parks, as it can in some circumstances cause damage to the plants,” a spokesperson said.
Until January 2025, horse manure could be disposed of at the Sweeney’s Terrace depot for a charge on one day per week.
A council spokesperson said horse owners must now make their own arrangements for the disposal of their manure by taking it to a waste disposal facility that is prepared to accept it.
“It is the responsibility of the horse owners to dispose of their horse manure legally and responsibly,” they said.
The council also said it does not offer waste disposal facilities for every type of waste material. They added: “There are many products that the producer or owner of that waste are required to source their own disposal facilities or make their own arrangements for disposal.”
They said illegal dumping of horse manure also took place when the Sweeney’s Terrace facility was accepting the manure, and so it is not a new issue or related solely to the closure of this facility at Sweeney’s Terrace.
The spokesperson also said that when horse manure is reported to the council as illegally dumped, it is responded to in the same manner as all illegally dumped materials.
“It will be investigated and if the persons responsible for dumping can be identified a fine or prosecution may follow. Our Enforcement section deals with investigations into illegally dumped manure,” they said.
‘Not equipped’
Local Green Party councillor Feljin Jose told The Journal that he doesn’t think that the council is “equipped or resourced to tackle this properly on its own”.
“Residents haven’t really seen the results of any enforcement action with the issue actually worsening in the Cabra and Phibsborough area in recent months,” he said.
“It’s a clear public safety issue and we really need to see the Gardaí involved.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s McGrattan said: “If the council stopped the collection of manure for legitimate reasons, it should have consulted with horse owners in advance of this closure.”
“The result of the closure is an unacceptable level of dumping of the manure in our community,” he told The Journal.
Local councillor Colm O’Rourke, who is leader of the Fine Gael group on Dublin City Council, said residents are seeing plenty of evidence of the dumping, and they now want to see evidence of enforcement.
Speaking to The Journal, O’Rourke said he accepts dumping was happening before Sweeney’s Terrace depot closed, but said “that doesn’t necessarily mean the closure hasn’t made an existing problem worse”.
“Every repeated clean-up costs staff time and public money. I’m not suggesting taxpayers should subsidise commercial waste disposal, but we do need to establish whether practical alternatives exist alongside stronger enforcement,” he said.
“Ultimately, this isn’t just about a depot that closed in January 2025. It’s about hundreds of bags being dumped in our communities in September and October 2026, and what is being done about it now.”
“We cannot keep collecting the bags, issuing the same explanation and waiting for the next pile to appear.”
Commenting on these criticisms, a council spokesperson said: ”We have no further comment to make on this.”
“The reasons why it was stopped are outlined in the original response and, as highlighted while it was in operation, there were only an average of two paying customers per week. Commercial Horse owners are no different from all other businesses and it is their responsibility to source and dispose of their commercial waste legally and responsibility.”
A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said: “All matters reported to An Garda Síochána are investigated.”