A couple of weeks ago, Facebook happened to be the medium where a conversation about the Plassey Riverbank started. During winter, as the water levels went up, the Shannon has brought downstream a lot of rubbish that is now making its banks look very bad. You can see in these photos how the beautiful sunsets and the first flowers of the spring are coexisting with plastic bottles, containers, car wheels and lots of polistyren.
After that conversation on Facebook, we decided we can do something about it ourselves. A Facebook page was created to try and get other people behind this idea.
This is how the We love Plassey Riverbank Facebook page explains why we, the people who love and use this area of the city should look after the canal and riverbank:
The University of Limerick is situated on the bank of the Shannon at Plassey. The old towpath goes along the bank to the Park Canal, the Abbey River and the city centre. It is in need of love and care, because people litter it and rubbish washed downstream gets caught on the bank and in the trees.
We made the following video two weeks ago and we posted it on Facebook and YouTube, to encourage people to join us:
For Sunday, 12th of February, we have planned a first clean-up operation:
We are meeting at 12pm at the Richmond RFC (by the railway bridge behind Musgraves).See map below!
If you have leaves rakes, fishing nets, wheelbarrows or any other tool you can think of, bring them
We are planning to try and clean up as much as we can of the canal bank and the river bank toward UL between 12:30 and 15:30 pm.
After the clean-up, we will reassemble at Richmond RFC for a soup&home-baked cakes and to watch the second half of the Munster Junior League final match.
Here’s a link to the Facebook event, in case you want to sign up.
View Richmond RFC in a larger map
The Green Campus Committee at the University of Limerick is supporting the event, and we will get to reuse some of the materials that remained after last year’s spring cleanup.
The Limerick City Council is also providing us with clear plastic bags and gloves, and will ensure the pick up of the rubbish on Monday morning.