A LOCAL woman has experssed her outrage and disgust after discovering dead animal remains among large piles of household goods and general waste dumped along a rural road in the Lack area of Co. Fermanagh.

Jane Scanlon was out walking with her family around the Largy area of Lack last Sunday morning, February 21, when they came across large piles of rubbish dumped along the Kiln Road, near the quarry.

Upon closer inspection, they made a disturbing discovery. "There was a dead calf," Jane told this newspaper.

"The calf looks like it's not there that long. From what we could see, it's not that badly decomposed, in that you could still make it out and then there's a skeleton there too.

"It is just horrendous," she said, going on to comment that she couldn't believe the extent of the fly-tipping in the area.

"It stretches maybe 400/500 yards up from the entrance to the quarry, and you just come across a pile, and then you'll go up a few more steps and there's another pile, and then another pile.

"When you're living within six miles of a council dump, it's ridiculous," she said.

As the chairperson of the Lack Community Group, Jane has been involved in projects to help keep the area tidy, and is frustrated by the laziness of some people and the lack of care they have for the environment.

"We work along with the school – obviously, before Covid-19 [struck] – and we were running wee litter pick days with P6s and P7s, out the back road, and to see that [dumping] up the other side of the mountain is just despicable when we are so close to council dumps, outside Kesh and outside Irvinestown."

Fly-tipping has previously been an issue in the area, and Jane had also reported it in September, 2019.

"They [the Council] had come in after that and cleared that. We hadn't actually been there [at that Lack road] in a while and just decided because it was a beautiful day [on Sunday], we would go for a walk," she said.

However, after what she observed on Sunday, she thinks the fly-tipping issue is worse than ever.

"At the start of the lockdown last year, we went out and lifted three bags of rubbish, and I would say you could probably lift twice that now at the minute.

"I don't understand some people. We still have the same problem with litter out along the other roads heading towards the church.

"People are just dumping rubbish out of their cars. You feel like you're fighting a losing battle with it," Jane told The Impartial Reporter.

DUP Erne North Councillor Deborah Erskine commented on the fly-tipping in the Lack area.

She said: "I find it absolutely disgusting and downright disgraceful that someone thinks it is acceptable to dump rubbish anywhere they like.

"This is a clear health and safety risk. It's very concerning that animals were found in amongst the rubbish by a family out walking.

"No animal should be disposed of in this way, which clearly would cause anyone distress to see that."

Calling the issue "socially and environmentally unacceptable", Councillor Erskine continued: "Last year, in the first lockdown, there was a rise in fly-tipping; however, with recycling centres open, there is absolutely no excuse.

"This activity puts increased pressure on our council staff, as well as diverting time and money to deal with this problem.

"To anyone that thinks our beautiful natural landscape or public spaces are rubbish dumps, think again.

"You can face financial penalties and, indeed, you could be up in court in more serious cases.

"Fermanagh and Omagh Council, as well as NIEA, regularly carry out investigations and enforcement work. Fly-tipping simply has to stop," she stated.