A farmer in Co Mayo was shocked to find a suite of furniture on the roadside near his land this week.

“I got a shock, as it was a fairly decent suite of furniture. I had to ask myself who in the right mind would dump it,” sheep and beef farmer Paul Derrig told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Derrig explained: “The road is near our land and although it’s a narrow bog road, it is well travelled. Mainly farmers in jeeps travel it, accessing their land.

“I put up a post on Facebook and I couldn’t believe the response it got; people are outraged. I hoped my post would stir whoever dumped it and make them consider coming back to clean it up.”

Rampant dumping

Just a year earlier, there had been a huge case of fly tipping only four kilometres from the latest illegal dumping site, Derrig said.

“This carry-on is rampant in rural Ireland. We are constantly seeing new cases of littering on the sides of the road. A year ago, someone did a total clear-out; there was a skip-load of toy tractors, swings and slides thrown into a drain with running water.

“I contacted Mayo County Council on two occasions and nothing has been done about it. The rubbish is still there, but now it has become overgrown. This is becoming a major problem for rural areas and it’s because people can’t be bothered to get a skip.”

Last week, a Cork farmer found a truckload of builder's rubble dumped in his field.

Your story

Have you been affected by illegal dumping on your farm? We would like to hear your story, using the form below.

Read more

Cork farmer finds truckload of builder's rubble dumped in field

Lockdown sees spike in fly-tipping

IFA calls for a raft of changes to tackle illegal dumping