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Roscommon Town has said ‘this is the final straw’ to plastic, as it becomes the first town in Ireland to go plastic straw free.  To celebrate the initiative, local businesses will be giving customers edible straws this Easter Sunday.  Reusable stainless steel straws with the ‘Plastic Free Roscommon’ brand and paper straws will still be available to customers on request.

Plastic straws have been identified as one of the 10 most common pieces of rubbish polluting our oceans. They cannot be recycled and last for 200 years. With over 30 businesses involved, the Straws Suck initiative has received overwhelming support including from the town’s cafes, restaurants, fast food outlets and cinema. Supermac’s in Roscommon Town is to be the first in Ireland to switch to paper straws.

The Straws Suck campaign started following concern from young and old in the area about the damage single use plastics are having on the environment, and it has received support from the Roscommon Chamber of Commerce, the Roscommon Branch of VFI, and is sponsored by Roscommon County Council.

Caithlin McConn, President of the Chamber of Commerce and manager of JJ Harlows pub says  “we have noticed a 75%-80% reduction in the number of straws used since we joined the Straws Suck campaign as we now only give paper straws to customers on request”.

Suzanne Dempsey, Environmental Education Officer commented that “the switch away from single use plastics requires a change in consciousness and this campaign aims to get people to ‘refuse the straw’ as they are an item most people can do without.”

Brian O’Callaghan, MD of EcoStraws.ie who are providing the eco-friendly alternatives to the plastic straws lauded praise saying “the organisers deserve enormous credit for the proactive approach they have taken with regard to single use plastics, and with the new ethos now engrained in the mindset of the general public, hopefully the campaign will continue beyond the Easter festivities.”

David Mugan, 7, thinks the edible straws are a delicious treat with an important message. “If plastic straws get into the ocean and are eaten by turtles or dolphins, it will kill them so we need to stop using plastic straws,” he urges.

The Straws Suck Campaign is coordinated by Roscommon County Council and local advocacy group Plastic Free Roscommon. It aims to encourage people to reduce their impact on the environment by switching away from single use plastics. Plastic Free Roscommon has gained support from local Tidy Towns groups in Kilteevan, Castlecoote and Roscommon Town who are frustrated with amount of litter that is caused by single use plastic items such as straws, plastic cutlery, coffee cups and plastic bottles.

This campaign has also captured the imagination of young people locally.  Students at the local Roxboro National School helped stick old bottle caps to the Straws Suck float being entered in the Easter Parade by the Roscommon Tidy Towns committee.

A group of secondary school pupils from Kilteevan Tidy Towns were so passionate about the message they approached businesses in Roscommon Town to ask them to support the Straws Suck Campaign and provide customers with straws on request only. They also received 1,000 signatures to a pledge not to use plastic straws.

Tell us about EcoStraws.ie.

We aim to reduce the 1million plastic straws used in Ireland every day by offering a full range of eco-friendly reusable and biodegradable disposable drinking straws and associated products to the domestic, retail, trade and corporate gift markets.

What does your own role entail?

Myself, Anthony and Sarah are a small but hardworking team. We share all aspects of progressing the business from R&D to Customer Service. Although I try to concentrate on financials, logistics and exploring new revenue avenues, I love the dynamics of the fluid role. This week for example I was trying to organise shipment of a container of paper straws from China to Greece one minute, then selling a box of straws to my neighbour in Limerick Milk Market the next!

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Adare, before moving to Hospital when we opened Scoby’s Bar in 2000, and then moved onto Knockainey in 2005. All brilliant communities in their own ways.

What is your educational background?

I went to Adare CBS, then St. Clements College before studying Engineering in DIT Bolton St.

How did you get to where you are today?

Anyone raised in Adare is encouraged into hospitality and I was no different, working in a number of bars and hotels, before opening Scoby’s Bar with my parents in Hospital in 2000. By 2015, I felt I needed a new challenge and began work in Air Traffic Control. I am currently working for Entry Point North in Shannon, who are the training division of the IAA, helping to train Air Traffic Controllers. They have been very accommodating in allowing me the time to concentrate on EcoStraws. I have also been involved in a few other startups in between, with varying degrees of success.

Why did you decide to join the company/go into business alone?

I have always been naturally inquisitive, and love the entrepreneurial challenge. When a solution to a problem presents itself, along with opportunity, correct timing, and a good team, it is hard to ignore.

What are your goals for the next 12 months?

We have just appointed a national distributor so we hope to see our products across the wider retail sector over the coming months. We would also love to help Limerick Council with its European Green Leaf 2020 application. Finally, we have identified 3 further markets and about 20 routes into those markets, so we will try to explore all those avenues over the next 12 months.

Who do you admire in business?

We have lots of successful businesspeople to champion here in Limerick. I admire the likes of the Fitzgerald family, Ralph Parkes, Mark McConnell, Richard Maguire and Colm O’Brien, firstly because of their work ethic and determination to succeed, but also because they are so generous with their time. In my opinion, there is nothing more valuable than somebody’s time.

In business and life, are you guided by any particular motto

I recently spoke in Shannon College of Hotel Management, and at UL Entrepreneurship Summit, and one of the messages I tried to encourage was to have a go, and try and make an impact in life. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than being alive but not living. You may fail, you may succeed, but have a go and enjoy the journey.

Away from work, what are your pastimes and hobbies?

I have a season ticket for Limerick FC, and Celtic FC so like to get to their games as much as possible. I also volunteer regularly for Special Olympics Ireland and will join Team Ireland in Abu Dhabi for the World Games next month.

Limerickman sees writing on the wall for single-use plastic as bans introduced in parts of US and Australia.

It is the last straw for single use plastic, according to Limerickman Brian O’Callaghan, who has launched a company selling environmentally friendly straws.

EcoStraws sells reusable straws made from materials including stainless steel, glass, bamboo and silicone as well as 100% biodegradable disposable straws made from paper and polyactic acid and edible straws made from pasta, maize starch and gelatin.

O’Callaghan said he was inspired to launch the company with his running buddies Sarah Keyes and Anthony Egan after the three of them attended the National Geographic Symphony for our World in September. The performance, by the National Symphony Orchestra at its European debut in Limerick, shared footage of animal and marine life. The company officially launched in November, which was a quick turnaround.

“I had a lot of research done before the performance, but that was the icing on the cake for us coming together as a team,” O’Callaghan said.

While running Scoby’s Bar in Hospital, Co Limerick, he was paying attention to the banning of single-use plastics in California and some states in Australia, and he knew it would be introduced in the European Union soon.

This month, the EU agreed on laws that would ban the use of several single-use plastics, including straws. Once the ban is formally approved by member states, countries will have two years to implement it.

“We aim to shop as local as possible. All of our packaging is coming from Limerick,” O’Callaghan said. “But the straws aren’t being manufactured in Ireland yet. The edible straws are from Barcelona. The pasta straws are from Italy. The rest are coming from Asia.”

The company has targeted three markets: personal, retail and wholesale. It focused on personal sales in the lead-up to Christmas.

In 2019, it will focus on retail and wholesale. Some of its products are already being used in hotels and cafés in Limerick. And it is in talks with a nationwide retailer which O’Callaghan said would give the company “huge exposure”.