Horse poo plagues streets of Dublin 8 for year-and-a-half with no end in sight

After 30 years of offering the service, Dublin City Council stopped collecting horse poo at their cleaning facility in Sweeney's Terrace and the result of been plastic bags of manure lining the streets of the Liberties

News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 14:12, 13 Aug 2026 View Image Bags of horse poo illegally dumped on Bonham St, The Liberties, Dublin (Image: Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair)

Horse poo has been illegally dumped all around the Liberties for over the past year and half, with no end in sight.

For 30 years, Dublin City Council allowed horse operators to dispose of manure at their cleaning facility in Sweeney's Terrace. But this was halted in January 2025 for health and safety reasons without any firm guidance around alternatives or what operators should do with the waste that their horses will inevitably produce.

One Liberties local who has continually highlighted this issue is Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair who recently posted a video on social media of bags of horse poo dumped on the footpath near Bridgefoot Street Park. “It goes back to the fact that Dublin City Council have stopped collecting horse waste as they used to,” he said.

Speaking with Dublin Live earlier this year , Cllr Ó Meachair said once the council stopped collecting the waste it became “a noticeable problem in the area”. “You only need to take a walk up Meath Street, Francis Street, and Thomas Street and you’ll come across horse manure,” he said in February.

It appears little has changed in the intervening months as Lord Mayor Daryl Barron’s key priority of ‘A Safer and Cleaner Capital’ hasn’t quite made its way to Dublin 8 just yet. That’s because the council’s 24-hour cleaning service, which gives extra priority to city centre areas of high footfall, stops just short of the Liberties.

“If they were to extend that by just a few streets it would alleviate a lot of the problem and it probably wouldn't be a huge additional cost either," Cllr Ó Meachair said. The South West Inner City rep believes this is a problem “created by Dublin City Council,” as the previous arrangement for collecting waste at Sweeney's Terrace was well established and respected by operators.

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for DCC said they stopped collecting horse manure primarily for health and safety reasons around access to the depot and storage of the waste. “The City Council stopped accepting horse manure at our Sweeney's Terrace cleansing depot in January 2025. This was the only location/depot that accepted horse manure for disposal with a charge,” they said last February.

“In 2025, the City Council through its citizen Hub Portal received a total of 68 reports that related to illegal dumping of horse manure. Of these 38 were in the Dublin 8 area. We have seen an increase in reported illegal dumping of horse manure across the city in 2025.

"The City Council is currently not considering the reintroduction of horse manure disposal facilities at our Sweeney's Terrace cleansing depot or indeed any other facility. As we no longer offer any horse manure disposal service, horse owners are now required to make their own arrangements for the disposal of their manure by taking it to a waste disposal facility that is prepared to accept it."

Another key point of concern is the lack of the regulations around the horse trade itself. Although the council issued carriage drivers licences up until 2018, Cllr Ó Meachair explained it was then discovered that this was actually superseded by the 1853 Carriages Act and the industry has been unregulated ever since.

He said this “overriding piece of legislation” meant the council didn’t actually have the power to regulate the industry. “This is literally a Victorian piece of legislation that came only a few years after the famine,” he said.

As an act that doesn’t address animal welfare concerns or anything to do with waste collection facilities, Cllr Ó Meachair argues it’s time to make some legislative changes and include horse manure services within them.

Plans to change the 1853 Carriages Act have been in limbo for years and have been “under review” since prior to the pandemic. “It hasn't even made its way to the Dáil Chamber yet,” he said.

Cllr Ó Meachair believes addressing this issue is not a priority for the Department of Transport and that local authorities are simply waiting to be given the power to enact bye-laws regarding horse operators. Not only would this allow them to address the manure problem, but could facilitate better welfare checks on horses, higher quality carriages, and ensuring operators are properly qualified.

“With that kind of system in place you could then ringfence money for things like horse manure collection,” he said. “It's caught up in bureaucracy.”

“It doesn't seem to be a priority for them and unfortunately the consequence of that is the local community in the Liberties is being left behind. They are facing the consequences of this.

“This is a massive industry in the Liberties and I have no doubt they will continue to be a massive industry after regulations are brought in. It needs to be done in a regulated and safe way - that's safe for the customers, for the people operating the carriages, and also for the horses themselves.

“The fact is that there's horse poo on several streets constantly and it is a huge health and safety issue. They haven’t removed the health safety issue, it hasn’t gone away. It’s just the council saying we don’t want the health and safety issue on our doorstep, but the consequence is it’s just being spread around the whole area.”

When contacted for comment a spokesperson from the Department of Transport said: " The regulation of horse-drawn vehicles is a cross-government issue covering road safety, animal welfare and enforcement, and involves the Department of Transport, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice.

"The Minister for Road Safety is engaging with his ministerial colleagues on whether improvements can be made to the existing legislation and will consider any requests for additional enforcement powers from An Garda Síochána or local authorities.

"Existing legislation relating to horse drawn carriages for hire or reward is being reviewed and initial scoping work on a Bill has taken place. The development of legislation of this nature, which involves the repeal of legislation which pre-dates the foundation of the State, is complex and technical. A General Scheme will be devised, in conjunction with Dublin City Council and other key stakeholders, such as Department of Agriculture and An Garda Síochána, to ensure legislative consistency across the country.

"Targeted consultation commenced with stakeholders at the end of July 2026, following which, it is anticipated that a Draft General Scheme of the Horse Drawn Carriages Bill for Hire or Reward will be developed.

"The intention of this legislation is to provide for a framework under which bye-laws made by local authorities can specify detailed rules and regulations. It is important to note that the Horse Drawn Carriage for Hire or Reward Bill will not affect existing legislation that provides for animal welfare such as the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 and the Control of Horses Act 1996 or interfere with existing road traffic legislation, all of which must be complied with by operators of horse drawn carriages for hire or reward."

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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