Letterkenny has slipped down the rankings in the latest Irish Businesses Against Litter survey.
Donegal’s biggest town is still considered ‘clean’ and has been rated as ‘clean to European norms.’
An Taisce, who carry out the surveys for IBAL, said Letterkenny is trying hard but certain areas let the town down.
A spoeksperson said “While clean, Letterkenny failed to retain its top ten spot from last year, with a number of sites just missing the top litter grade – e.g., N56 Dunfanaghy Approach Road; Letterkenny Shopping Centre Car Park; with a little extra effort, this could easily be achieved.
“Bryson Recycle was an exceptionally clean and well-presented Recycle Facility. Letterkenny Town Park is a lovely amenity which has been very well respected by the users and cared for by those responsible for the maintenance of same.
“By far the most heavily littered site was Letterkenny Bus Station – the area to the front was fine but the area to the rear / at the base of the low-lying shrubbery was a different story.”
The latest nationwide survey see Letterkenny slip from 6th to 21st in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.
The great majority of Ireland’s towns were found to be clean, but two-thirds of city areas are still littered. The survey presents a snapshot of cleanliness levels across Ireland as the peak summer tourist season commences.
Over 90% of towns surveyed were deemed clean, compared with just 28% of city areas. Maynooth won out ahead of Mallow, Kilkenny, Clonmel and Ennis. Dundalk, ‘seriously littered’ at the very foot of the table, and ‘moderately littered’ Tralee, were the sole towns to miss out on clean status.
Waterford and Galway were once again our only clean cities. Cork City Centre, Mahon, Limerick City and Galvone have all made some progress, as has Ballymun. Dublin City Centre, however, has deteriorated from ‘moderately littered’ to ‘littered’.
“Clearly, tourism is a focus of this annual summer survey and unfortunately the major urban gateways to our towns and countryside – notably Dublin – are falling short of the mark, and creating an underwhelming first impression for visitors,“ according to Conor Horgan of IBAL. “As a high-cost destination, tourists to Ireland can expect better. It’s a fact, too, that the great work being done in our towns is negated by litter in our cities.”
The survey showed that PPE litter has not disappeared entirely, with masks found in 7% of sites. There was a slight drop in the prevalence of alcohol cans and bottles, but coffee cups were present in 20% of sites, which, IBAL maintains, backs up the need for a coffee cup levy. There was an increase in cigarette butt litter.
Vaping devices were included as a litter type for the first time and were evident in 6% of sites. “The impact of disposable vapes is twofold,” say Conor Horgan.” Not only are they single-use plastic, but the lithium battery within them is an especially toxic form of litter. Unfortunately, as is our experience with coffee cups, consumers tend to opt for the convenience of the disposable product. In striving for a circular economy, the case for banning them is a strong one.”
