IRELAND HAS has shown continued improvement in the cleanliness of its towns with almost three-quarters deemed clean to European norms, according to a recent survey commissioned by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) and carried out by An Taisce.
The cleanest and most litter-free town in the State will be announced at an event in Dublin this afternoon hosted by the anti-litter organisation.
The outright winner will come from among the top five towns of Carlow, Longford, Wexford, Trim, Co Meath and Drogheda, Co Louth.
The most littered and untidy towns in the latest survey were Portlaoise, New Ross, Co Wexford, Nenagh, Co Tipperary and Mallow, Co Cork as well as Cork city and Dublin city.
A total of 53 towns and urban areas were surveyed, with 39 deemed clean to European standards, eight moderately littered, five littered and one, Portlaoise, judged to have a “serious litter problem”.
Dublin and Cork cities were found to be “littered” while An Taisce commented on the “long-term neglect and abuse” in many sites with six litter blacks spots identified in the two main cities.
IBAL chairman Tom Cavanagh, described Portlaoise as “unlucky because the centre is not too bad.
“The real problems are in a number of housing estates. The responsibility is joint – between the people who live in them and the local authority which has a responsibility to keep the roads clean at all times.”
He said town managers should be out and about seeing what is going on throughout the towns as regards littering.
It was “unfortunately true” that the more deprived areas and estates in towns were most likely to have littering problems. “We don’t like to emphasise that but it is the case.”
He said local authorities should call for meetings with residents of littered areas about how to address the problem. “It’s not just IBAL saying this. Research shows that the majority of people feel very strongly about litter.”
Mr Cavanagh cited recent research by children’s charity Barnardos in a deprived area of Cork city, which asked children what they disliked most about the area. Litter was the most frequent answer.
He also spoke about Killarney’s particular issue with chewing gum. Its newly paved streets, he said, were “bright and attractive” but showed up discarded gum far more starkly than usual grey paving. “It is now covered in gum. It’s like walking on a carpet of gum. It’s sad as there is not a single bit of litter in the town.”
Killarney is ranked joint 10th with Blanchardstown, Dublin and deemed “clean to European norms”.
He said IBAL was very disappointed in the Greens Party who, he said, showed a lack of concern about littering. “When John Gormley became Minister we really thought he’d tackle the issue of gum.”
While the overall picture is one of great improvement, Mr Cavanagh said Irish towns had “entered the bottom of the top division” of European towns.
The top of the top division was occupied by towns in Switzerland and the Nordic countries, where cleanliness was a noted feature, he added.
10 Most Littered Urban Areas
SERIOUS LITTER PROBLEM:
Portlaoise
LITTERED:
Cork
New Ross
Dublin
Nenagh
Mallow
MODERATELY LITTERED:
Midleton
Tallaght
Navan
Roscommon
Source:Irish Business Against Litter
