"It's high time we binned Cork City" is the theme of an initiative to tackle the litter problem in Cork city.
Cork Corporation and business, tourism, retailing and industry representatives believe the litter problem is causing a net economic loss to the city. As a result, a committee of interested parties has come together to discuss the issue and to organise a concentrated anti-litter blitz.
There will be new sanctions against those who litter, a raising of public awareness and the pounding home of the solution: "Don't drop it, bin it."
One of Cork's leading businessmen and a sportsman of distinction, Mr Tom Kavanagh, has made a personal crusade out of this. He is the shining light behind the organisation known as Irish Business against Litter.
He was joined at a meeting recently by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damien Wallace, Garda Chief Supt Adrian Culligan, corporation officials, members of the business community and tourism officials.
The meeting decided that the litter problem must be taken seriously.
It found there must be greater enforcement of the litter laws; a more comprehensive cleaning programme for the city centre; a better wheelie bin system; and a concerted effort to restore Cork to its potential.
There have been historic difficulties between Cork Corporation and its staff in the cleaning sector. The time has come to move on and to find a solution.
Junkets are not unknown in Cork Corporation. A more useful and productive one would be to fly some of the cleaning staff to Spain - the north-west is the part I know best - where the streets are in pristine condition and disinfected before rush hour begins in the morning.
Cork people do not hold back when extolling the virtue of their native place or their sports people - they are regarded as quite arrogant about the city and what they see as its rightful place in the national scheme of things. But a sense of shame is lacking because if it were not, things would not be as dire as they are when it comes to litter.
In the tourist season, visitors are offered pedestrian streets sometimes amounting to open litter bins.
Where's the civic pride? Why do parents still allow children to unwrap their sweet papers and casually cast them aside on the streets?
Why has the civic programme in schools not worked? And where is the enforcement of the litter laws?
These are important questions and for too long there have been no answers.
The citizens of a fine city must take responsibility but so must the city authorities. Youngsters, surely, could have it drummed into them that littering is unsocial. Equally, the corporation could come up with a better formula to police the litter problem and keep the streets clean when it matters most - when most people are using them.
Saturday and Sunday mornings are not the most pleasant days to be out early in Cork. The streets seem to be a disposal unit for chip cartons, cans and urine.
The sports-hungry Cork men and women who wear the red jersey with palpable love appear not to have any such love for their native city. Over the years, there have been successive campaigns to make things change. Radio messages do not seem to have worked.
Indifference to the problem needs to be addressed. Drink driving was a curse on the roads and to a large extent has been solved by the Garda. The speed issue is now being tackled and people are taking notice. Something just as radical must be done if cities like Cork are to be cleaned up.