Cork’s red litter day but Dublin a dirty old town

FERMOY has been declared Ireland’s cleanest town in 2018 – with the Co. Cork town sparkling well above the rest, especially bottom-placed north inner city Dublin.

A close second and third in the Irish Business Against Litter awards were Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and Killarney, Co. Kerry.

Disadvantaged urban areas, however, occupied the bottom five places in the rankings, with sections of the capital proving Dublin is still a dirty old town.

Among the areas to come in for criticism in the report, written by heritage group An Taisce, was Dublin’s north inner city, which is blighted by litter blackspots in Oriel Street, Dunne Street, Sherrard Street and Railway Street. Fána Glas in Ballybane, Galway city, was another notable litter blackspot, where ‘an air of neglect pervaded, and where it was revealed communal areas were ‘in very poor condition’.

In the capital, Ballymun’s ranking was brought down by dumping and fires at the former Ballymun Towers, while the Maples in Mahon, Co. Cork, was condemned as ‘not just littered but subject to dumping with soiled nappies strewn about.’

‘Three years ago we deliberately shone a spotlight on specific city areas in the hope that the attention would spur councils and communities into action,’ said Conor Horgan of IBAL.

‘It is fair to say we have seen no noticeable improvement in any of these areas – nor have we seen much by way of substantial measures to them turn around. Litter is a symptom of a greater malaise and keeping these areas as clean and well-presented as the rest of a city would, over time, have significant benefits. We need local authorities to take the lead.’

An Taisce surveyed 25 towns and 15 city areas on behalf of IBAL, with 90% of towns surveyed deemed to be as clean as the European average.

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton, will present the awards at a ceremony today, crowning Fermoy the cleanest town in 2018 and Waterford city again Ireland’s cleanest city.

An Taisce, which carries out IBAL’s litter surveys, praised Fermoy as having ‘exceeded its usual high standards of cleanliness’ and adding ‘great care has been taken not just with regard to litter but also overall presentation’.