The long-awaited clean-up of a vast illegal dump next to a Traveller halting site on the northside of Cork city is finally underway.

Rubbish at Spring Lane, Cork. Ellis’s Yard site in Ballyvolane

Contractors Loftus of Cork moved on to the city council-owned Ellis’s Yard site in Ballyvolane this morning to begin the removal of tonnes of hundreds of tonnnes rubbish which have been dumped on the site over several months.

Work on the site alongside the Spring Lane halting site is expected to take several days.

The contract also includes the repair of existing damaged fencing, and the provision of new security fencing to secure the entire site.

Video by Eoin English

The clean-up began this morning just a day after council officials assured the work would start within seven days.

They had been under mounting pressure to move the clean-up contractors on site following a residents’ protest late last month after the condition of the site.

Local residents who live overlooking the site had stepped up their calls for a start date for the clean-up.

They had also asked the EU to investigate their complaint about council inaction in relation to tackling the illegal dumping issue.

Video by Eoin English

The site has been plagued by illegal dumping for almost two decades.

The council has mounted several large-scale and expensive cleanups over the years, but the problem has persisted.

A network of CCTV cameras is also being installed in a bid to deter future illegal dumping.

In the meantime, officials are working on a long-term strategy that could see some form of development of the Ellis’s Yard site for community gain.