Plea for reduction in KCA weedkiller use

"Weeds would be rampant" if spraying stopped.

A plea for Kilcullen Community Action to phase out the use of weedkiller is to be considered as part of the group's current rolling three-year plan, writes Brian Byrne.

This follows a discussion on the matter prompted by Eoin Houlihan, who said he had been reading articles recently about the 'horrendous' situation over pesticides and pollinating insects.

"I feel extremely strongly that as a Tidy Towns group we should not be using weedkiller," he told the recent KCA meeting. "Where we spray there are storm drains, and these flow into the river. This may be only a small instance, but it is replicated thousands of times across the country."

Noel Clare agreed that there are serious issues with neonicotinoids, which are banned in the EU. But he said the sprays the group uses are glyphosate based, and he has read widely on the science behind them. "I guarantee that if we stopped spraying in the morning, the weeds would be rampant."

KCA chair Ann Cashman remarked that weedkillers are no longer used in Dublin parks, 'but it takes ten times the manpower to keep weeds at bay without them'.

Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy told the meeting that Kildare's councillors had voted to reduce reliance on glyphosate pesticides, and that the Council's Environmental Education Officer is 'actively looking at options'.

Ann Cashman suggested that the matter be considered as part of the three-year plan, which was agreed.


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