Kerry’s coast fares badly in IBAL study

A NEW survey carried out by the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) environmental lobby group has found that three Kerry coastal and riverside areas are ‘Littered’.

Three areas in Kerry – Dingle, Ballybunion and the River Laune – were included among 50 Irish beaches, rivers and harbours that were examined by IBAL for the new annual survey. The survey aims to do for the coast and waterways what IBAL’s ‘Litter League’ has done for Irish towns and city centres.

The An Taisce judges who carried out the survey for IBAL deemed Dingle Harbour – which came in at 37th position out of 50 – as being ‘ littered’, citing a wide variety of fast food-related rubbish and cigarette butts in and around the harbour.

Ballybunion and the River Laune fared better, though both were still deemed to be ‘moderately littered” by the IBAL judges.

In Ballybunion the An Taisce adjudicators expressed disappointment at the amount of marine litter – particularly fishing lines, ropes and netting – that was found on the beach. Small amounts of food-related rubbish was also found caught among the seaweed.

The judges said the River Laune was generally well-presented but that there was minor littering observed throughout the surveyed area.

Of the 50 areas surveyed across the country, just four were found to be “clean to European norms”, a factor that IBAL said could threaten the success of the successful ‘ Wild Atlantic Way’ project’.

“We know the success of the Wild Atlantic Way is placing strains on infrastructure of various kinds. Litter is a likely consequence of this, and local authorities need to ensure the appeal of the way is sustained,” said IBAL spokesman Conor Horgan.

“It took 10 years of naming and shaming for local authorities to get to grips with litter in our towns. IBAL has set about pushing for a similar turnaround in respect of coastal areas and waterways,” he added.