Talks to resolve the Galway refuse dispute have been adjourned until tomorrow morning. Contractors will not resume refuse collection in the meantime.
Mr Clem Walsh of the Waste Contractors’ Association would not comment on the hour-long meeting, but said they would reinstate their pickets if there is no satisfactory outcome from tomorrow's talks which are due to begin at 11 a.m.
Galway city now faces its sixth day without refuse collection.
Earlier today the picket at Poolboy Dump at Ballinsloe was suspended after the offer from Mr Tom Kavanagh, assistant manager of Ballinasloe Urban District Council (UDC) and Galway County Secretary, to begin talks.
Private waste disposal contractors had been picketing Poolboy Dump since last Thursday in an effort to have the site reopened to accept commercial refuse.
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Uncollected sacks of waste and refuse in Galway
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This followed a ban by Ballinasloe UDC on commercial waste from Galway city, which is to be extended to Galway county (except the UDC area) from July 1st.
The UDC was reacting to the introduction of Environmental Protection Agency guidelines which recommended a cap on the total annual tonnage at Poolboy - reducing waste from 75,000 tonnes this year to 50,000 tonnes next year.
Mr Walsh said the ban has reduced his company’s work load to one day a week and has similarly impacted on other waste contractors in the county.
He said several alternative waste-management projects, including recycling and composting, with a view to reducing the tonnage at the Poolboy had been put to the UDC but these would take six to 12 months to implement. He said the Council had not responded to the proposals.
He also claimed the Ballinasloe dump had the capacity to take waste for a further two years.
With all other landfills in the country refusing to take on the extra waste, he said it was up to the Galway County Council and UDC to provide adequate waste-management infrastructure until an alternative was found.
Galway Corporation is tonight set to consider the controversial Connacht Waste Management Plan which it unanimously rejected last year. The plan provides for an incinerator in the city and a "superdump" in the county.
Mr John Tierney of the Galway City Council said the situation in the city had reached a crisis point.
He called for a quick resolution to the dispute at Poolboy Dump to allow for the resumption of domestic refuse collections. He also urged Galway Corporation to accept the new waste management plan.
The Galway Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned the waste crisis could lead to job losses as well as presenting a serious health hazard. Major companies face problems in moving waste material, while hotels and restaurants have said they will not be able to contain their volume of refuse after today.