Weedkiller ban move is ‘off the wall crazy’- Meade
A MEATH county councillor has described as “awful mad green ideology” a proposal by two of his fellow councillors to ban the use of weedkiller containing glyphosate.
Cllr Paddy Meade described the proposal by Cllrs Helen Meyer and Alan Tobin as “ludicrous, off the wall crazy”.
“The Greens are gone away now, they lost the election.
“I'm not surprised it is two urban based councillors that are proposing this. This is an attack on rural parts of Meath. If you ban it, it will take rural council staff into the urban areas to pick weeds.”
Fine Gael Cllr Meade said that people have to use it when trying to clean up places like cemeteries.
Cllrs Helen Meyer (SF) and Alan Tobin (FG) had proposed “an immediate ban on the use of weed killer containing glyphosate for the year 2025 by Meath Co Council and by all local authority contractors with a review in Nov/Dec 2025 to assess if it is feasible for the council to introduce a permanent ban.”
Cllr Alan Tobin said glyphosate was proven to be carcinogenic and had links to Parkinson's Disease.
“But people are spraying it on our green spaces, around park benches, graveyards and other spaces.
“Since we have started using these weedkillers we have lost 70 per cent of our insects. When are we going to stop? When we have no insects or wildlife?”
He pointed out that there is legislation in place that says only those who are qualified to do so can use such weedkiller, but because of the huge volume of sales of this products,” he believed a lot of unqualified people were spraying it.
Cllr Helen Meyer said weedkiller caused a lot of damage, particularly in the Ashbourne area. It seems to be used very liberally affecting everything around it.
Independent Cllr Alan Lawes said that the residents of Johnstown don't use weedkiller.
“I've pulled up the weeds myself. We have cleaned a suburban area through the hard work of volunteers.”
Cllr Lawes said a farmer in Portlaoise had developed a weedkilling method which involved a foam and scalding hot water.
“Imagine, Cllr Meade, using a machine invented by a farmer to kill weeds without weedkiller,” he said.
The motion was referred to the council's Environment Strategic Policy Committee.