A Galway county councillor has criticised those behind the latest illegal dumping incident in a rural bog area outside Loughrea.
Two trailer loads of rubbish were offloaded in recent days in this "hotspot" between Loughrea and Bullaun.
Councillor Michael "Moegie" Maher is chairperson of the local illegal dumping committee.
"We spent thousands of euros cleaning up this area last year and we put up cameras and had the area impeccable. Just before Christmas we had to return again with a skip to do another clean up at a cost of another €4,500.
"Then lo and behold, on Monday night there were two trailer loads of household rubbish dumped there again. It's absolutely disgraceful. We had a community warden with us and we spent hours going through the rubbish to see if we could find anything to identify the culprits, but unfortunately we couldn't."
Councillor Maher is calling for a change in legislation to allow local authorities to use CCTV footage as evidence to prosecute people for illegal dumping.
However, the Data Protection Commission has ongoing concerns about the use of these cameras for litter and waste enforcement purposes.
"We need be allowed to use these cameras to name and shame these individuals and until such time it won't stop. This weekend the local community will help us clean up the area again. They won't beat us. We'll eventually stop this 'blackguardism' going on in Galway and elsewhere around the country."
The councillor has called on the public to remain vigilant and to contact the gardaí if they see any suspicious activity or witness late night dumping.
The bog in Carra is about 6km outside Loughrea and a popular area for walkers and their dogs.
