Bin ‘scavengers’ in search of Re-turn bottles are leaving Dublin ‘like a bomb site’, says council chief Richard Shakespeare
Two years into the role, Richard Shakespeare, the chief executive of Dublin City Council (DCC), has found his rhythm in straddling the tricky line between punter and politician.
Demurring on just enough questions to seem decidedly political, Mr Shakespeare remains far less po-faced than his predecessors.
One topic that energises him is ridding the capital of its “dirty old Dublin” label, which he said was “deeply insulting” to many people at the council.
With significant investments in new personnel, cleaning machinery and the removal of bin bags from 90 streets so far, Mr Shakespeare is adamant that the moniker will not stick around for long.
But one thorn in his side appears to be the impact of the Re-turn scheme, with the 15c now attached to a plastic bottle having kick-started a craze of “bin scavenging” across the city, he said.
“On some occasions, I’ve seen them tip the bag upside down, and then we’re saying, ‘Oh the seagulls’. No, it’s not the seagulls. This is two-legged scavenging as opposed to winged scavenging. Honest to God,” he said.
It’s not the seagulls. This is two-legged scavenging as opposed to winged scavenging
“It’s the law of unintended consequences… some of them are very vulnerable people, some of them look very respectable people, but they’re obviously doing it for a reason.”
He said bins were often being damaged by the behaviour, with some people breaking the locks to get in and others having managed to get hold of bin keys for access.
“I’ve a well-worn path between here and the Mansion House, and it breaks my heart on occasions on South Great George’s Street, and you can see them. I’ll have gone over to the Mansion House, and the place will be spotless and the [cleaning crews] have just been through,” Mr Shakespeare said.
“You’ll come back an hour later and it’s like a bomb site. So, you step off a bus or out of a taxi and you’ve come in from the airport or whatever else, and you think, jeez, this place is filthy.”
The city now has to bear the additional cost of between €500,000 and €1m annually for more clean-ups as a result of the Re-turn scheme.
Mr Shakespeare said he had even noticed a sort of “turf wars” among people who scavenge the bins, with some claiming a bin or set of bins as theirs.
A different sort of turf war in the online space has played out in recent weeks, as many public bodies reviewed their use of social media platform X in light of its undiscerning “nudification” feature, which even undressed pictures of minors.
DCC has suspended posting on the platform, with a review under way into its long-term presence on the Elon Musk-owned network. But Mr Shakespeare seems to have already made up his mind.
“The world doesn’t revolve around X,” he said. “We can go on to Bluesky, we can go on to TikTok. We are on Instagram, we are on Facebook.
“We just decided that the values that X is clearly demonstrating that it has, do not align with ours.”
A Re-turn machine being used as part of the Deposit Return Scheme
The Foxrock man recently oversaw a wide-ranging rebrand of the body he leads, but there are more than surface-level changes going on at Ireland’s largest local authority.
Its more-than 6,000 staff could be uprooted to Camden Yard if Mr Shakespeare decides to buy the site, a deal which he said must be decided soon. “Come the end of February, I’ll have to pay a 10pc deposit, or not,” he said. “And then you’d complete probably two months later, all going well.”
The deal, understood to be driven by Mr Shakespeare himself, has come under scrutiny due to his claim that it is more economical, and potentially more environmentally friendly, to knock down DCC’s existing offices at Wood Quay instead of retrofitting them to meet stringent energy-efficiency guidelines.
I’m very ambitious for this city and the city council
He said the deal is all about value for public money, citing a figure of €400m for a retrofit of the current offices, which were built in 1981 and 1994.
“[Retrofitting is] far more complicated than building from scratch,” he said. “Because of the dismantling of something in an orderly fashion, and decanting and changing and testing and doing all of the bits and pieces.”
On the environmental impact of knocking down its quayside offices and moving elsewhere, Mr Shakespeare said the other offices “were going to be built anyway”.
He added: “And with modern material recovery methods, it’s not like the old days when you just knock a building and put it into lorries and take it to a landfill. No, it’s separated out, it’s recycled material.”
He said the report detailing the retrofitting bill, produced by consultancy firm Arup, was currently being updated, so he cannot reveal it yet. But he is sure it will be “accessible” when complete.
DCC has suspended posting on X. Stock image. Photo: Getty
The price tag for developing modern offices on Camden Yard would be about €330m, he said, excluding the residential side of the project. Mr Shakespeare added that the bid for the site was close to €100m, but “it’d start with a nine”.
“And you then look at the opportunity that presents on this site [at Wood Quay], and that’s a discussion with the elected members… is it all housing? Is it a combination of residential and community/artists/whatever type of stuff you could use here,” he said.
Asked why other councils were not choosing to relocate, despite similar requirements to improve energy efficiency, often in much older buildings than DCC’s, he said he was not sure.
“I’m not going to say that [other councils] lack ambition, but I’m very ambitious for this city and the city council,” he said.
Outside of his laser-like focus on Camden Yard, the work to keep the city running continues. One of the key projects driven by Mr Shakespeare is the implementation of the wide-ranging Dublin City Centre Transport Plan, which, for the first time, aims to tackle cars that are not stopping in the centre but merely passing through.
Controversial when announced for its measures around bus priority and limiting access to vehicles on the quays, Mr Shakespeare said “the world didn’t end” with the changes introduced so far.
“I think a lot of the traders saw an uptick in trade and footfall,” he added.
The ultimate goal is to make it a friendlier space for people to dwell
On the eternal debate of congestion charging, Mr Shakespeare said he would be more interested in introducing an emissions-based charge for cars, similar to how London operates its low-emission zone.
“The ultimate goal is to make it a friendlier space for people to dwell. You know there’s a [Danish architect] fella called Jan Gehl, with the 12 principles of creating a place.
“It’s about, can you hear? Can you sit? Can you dwell? How comfortable do you feel? So, there are principles behind what we’re trying to do, and it’s not just coming out of [DCC traffic head] Brendan O’Brien’s head,” he said.
The College Green Plaza project, which would pedestrianise and revamp the space at the heart of the city, was a perfect example, he said.
Designs for the flagship scheme are set to be unveiled this month, with planning to be lodged at some point this year.
“I’d like to be in a position, by the time I finish [in 2030], to be able to walk from [St] Stephen’s Green to Parnell Square and hit minimal traffic. So, from that perspective, it’s all of the pieces fitting together.”
When asked about extending his contract beyond its seven years, as his predecessor Owen Keegan did, he offers a smile.
“I’ll be 66 at that stage. Might be ready now to do something else with my life.”