To augment my environmental activism, I got involved in volunteer cleaning on the Grand Canal in 2010. We are now in our 15^th year with our cleaning equipment, where we operate from Dolphins Barn bridge in Dublin 8. At a political party meeting in a Rathmines pub, I suggested that we do something practical to help the local environment. It was inspired by the An Taisce National Spring Clean happening in April 2010. An Taisce's National Spring Clean supplied our first batch of equipment. Our budding local politician said we should have this on a regular basis and we settled for the 2^nd Sunday of the month. We have been doing it ever since from Harold’s Cross bridge to Rialto Bridge and up to Suir Road, if we have the numbers.

We call ourselves the Dolphins Barn Canal Biodiversity & Cleanup group and have a Facebook page. We are also interested in the biodiversity aspects of the canal and interact with Waterways Ireland (WI) about the vegetation along the canal. The stretch from Sally’s Bridge (Parnell) to Dolphins Barn is particularly attractive. On our advice they cut back the growth in a sensitive manner, to ease movement on the towpath and to maximise plant growth elsewhere. We tried to get WI to address excessive growth of winter heliotrope (see below), which prevents other plants getting established, but it was not successful. Our biodiversity enthusiast Larry had given a few walking talks on the canal biodiversity under the auspices of the Irish Wildlife Trust.

On the cleaning front, we have had volunteers from all parts of the world helping us. At one stage, we could have had a five-a-side soccer match between Algeria and the Rest of Africa! We also had helpers from South & North America, Australia, Asia and around Europe. Before Covid, we joined with other canal cleanup groups in Dublin under the annual Canals Action day banner. We started again in 2024 and we organised a picnic on the canal banks. Many of the local volunteers have been with us for several years and we have become friends and enjoy socialising when we have an occasional cup of coffee after a cleanup, paid from our funds.

Before our efforts commenced in 2010, a well-meaning eccentric old lady (we don’t have her name) used to collect rubbish on the canal and deposit it across the canal under the Barn House pub at Dolphins Barn bridge. When she died we planted an apple tree in her memory there and the local parish priest blessed it! I make apple jelly from the harvest. If any reader wants a jar, let me know!

Over the years, we have collected a lot of rubbish. We hauled out bikes, scooters, traffic cones, shopping trolleys and other heavy items. We try to operate the circular economy by seeking re-use for good bikes and returning shopping trolleys to supermarkets. We have recovered a couple of banknotes and which were money-laundered! Our mascot is Ganesha, a fine model of a famous Indian god, who was found under Dolphins Barn Bridge.

I enjoy using a 8-foot long picker to get rubbish at a distance or on the bed of the canal. It is satisfying to reel in inaccessible rubbish – it is like angling and getting a bite on the line! I have fallen in twice, but only up to around 3 feet. I and colleagues find that the monthly cleanup is a bit like a drug- addiction without any of the negatives! We get regular favourable comments from passers-by on our work which is gratifying.

It is disappointing how littered the canal gets every month and our inputs are constantly needed. We will see quite a bit of household rubbish bags tipped over the canal wall by local residents. This will include clothing, and if it gets into the canal, can be heavy to haul out. Dublin City Council is good at taking all our rubbish away. In recent months, the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has helped reduce the number of aluminium cans and plastic bottles on the canal, and we made a few euro by bringing some to a DRS machine! To further boost the environmental impact of our work, we try and collect (old) cans and glass bottles for placing in the local bottle bank.

Anybody is welcome to join us on the 2^nd Sunday of the month at Dolphins Barn Bridge from 1pm. We supply bags, gloves and litter-pickers. Dubliners should consider helping us or other canal cleanup groups near them. We will be 15 years old in April this year, when we join the An Taisce National Spring Clean. Given that we were unable to celebrate our 10^th. anniversary at the height of Covid in 2020, we hope to mark the occasion this time!

Eric Conroy

Photos courtesy of Dolphins Barn Canal Biodiversity & Cleanup group's Facebook page