Wrigley's Believe It Or Not: Trim looks to ban gum!

A sticky situation may await Trim Town Council if it proceeds with proposals to ask local shopkeepers to stop selling chewing gum. At January's monthly council meeting, councillors basking in the afterglow of the recent Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) victory, proclaiming Trim as the country's cleanest town, heard Cllr Gerry Reilly put forward the idea that shopkeepers in the town be asked not sell chewing gum because of it sticking to paths and the expense involved in removing it. However, calls to local shopowners in the town this week found that unanimous disagreement would be registered against any move. Nicola Tobin of Tobin's Newsagents on Haggard Street said that retailers were "already struggling" and that "things are hard enough". Ms Tobin said that chewing gum is an "extra sale" if people are buying a newspaper or other items and that the abolition of the '10 minute' parking rule around the town was hitting businesses. "We have to hold onto the little business people have without this, because the removal of the ten minute rule on parking means that people are paranoid about getting a ticket. People can't quickly come in now for a paper or to go to the bank. People are nervous about it and it's rulings like this that will be the ruination of the town," she said. Trim Chamber of Commerce president Noel French is also against the measure. "I don't think there should be a ban on the sale of chewing gum," he said. "If people are responsible with their chewing gum, they purchase it and dispose of it properly. "The type of paths here in Trim show up chewing gum very much - it's definitely a problem but it's not a problem if people dispose of it and other litter properly. "It's not the shop sales that create the problem. People sell all sorts of things with packaging on them. "There are plenty of bins in the town for people to use and then the council wouldn't have to spend money on picking up litter, chewing gum or not, then volunteers wouldn't need to go out and collect rubbish off the streets," he declared. Another trader against the idea is Sally Falvey of Megabite Deli at Wellington Place. "No, I wouldn't be in favour of it. The kids will get it anyway, plus a lot of adults buy it, more with people giving up smoking for the new year. But where do you draw the line? It's not going to stop people littering," she said. Other retailers who did not wish to be named thought the idea "stupid". "I can't see how they could work that, to be honest. I mean we have to sell what we can to stay alive," said one. At last week's meeting of the council, Councillor Gerry Reilly said that, on a recent trip to Singapore, he noted the lack of litter on streets in the city. He told councillors that so strict were Singaporean laws that it was "three lashes or a couple of days (in jail)" for minor offences like littering. He also noted "nobody blows their horns at each other", "there's no chewing gum anywhere, no plastic bags, or it's three lashes". He added: "Now, I'm not saying we bring that (lashes) in...but we should have a look at being the first town in Ireland to be chewing gum-free," he said. Cllr Reilly went on: "Think about it, Trim being the first town in Ireland with no chewing gum. "We can ask people, on a voluntary basis, we can at least ask them. We would probably be the first town in the EU (to do it)." Town clerk Brian Murphy said the idea had "merits" and that he would look into as councillors warmed to the proposal. Mr Murphy said there might be "issues with company law" and the rights of the consumer and the producer of chewing gum products but said he would examine the issue "with a view to a by-law in the future". Councillor Trevor Golden said that after the IBAL win the day before, when the town was announced as the cleanest in Ireland, "there's no better time to do it".