Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal), a body which runs an annual "name and shame" survey of litter levels in Irish towns, is to launch a "European Litter League".
This league will compare Dublin's litter levels with those of nine similar-sized cities across Europe. Cities chosen include Strasbourg, Barcelona, Zurich, Amsterdam, Cologne, Riga, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Vienna. Each will be surveyed by An Taisce, which carries out the annual Irish survey, and ranked in order of cleanliness.
Tom Cavanagh, chairman of Ibal, said the competition would represent a major challenge for Dublin City Council, city businesses and residents.
There was, he said, no longer any excuse for Dublin. "It has one of the top incomes per capita when compared to the 25 states of the European Union".
But while the survey may be unpopular with some towns and local authorities, Mr Cavanagh said most cities and towns in Ireland have improved "enormously" since the Ibal Litter League began six years ago.
The results of the 2007 survey will be published this summer.
