Monaghan improves, Cavan stalls in litter rankings

IBAL LITTER LEAGUE

The first post-lockdown survey by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Monaghan Town improving to 'Clean' status in 20th position in the ranking of 40 areas nationwide.

Cavan, however, is still deemed 'moderately littered' in 26th spot. Illegal dumping at the steps leading from James Connolly Street to Fairgreen Hill and littering at the laneway between Main Street and Tesco were among the sites to let the county down and prevent it from regain its 'Clean' status.

The survey found, while the majority of our towns have cleaned up over the past 12 months, litter in our main cities has worsened to levels not seen in ten years. Portlaoise emerged as cleanest town. The study found no fall-off in PPE litter across the country.

The An Taisce report for Monaghan stated: 'A creditable improvement for Monaghan, regaining its Clean status from 2019. The three approach roads to Monaghan all warranted the top litter grade, creating a positive first impression of the town. Other top-ranking sites included Church Square and Hill Street, both of which presented very well. The Diamond Centre has been highlighted in many previous IBAL surveys and there was no improvement this time around – it wasn’t just casually littered but subject to dumping, despite the best efforts of Monaghan Tidy Towns’ humorous anti-litter notices.'

The An Taisce report for Cavan stated: 'Cavan has improved marginally but not enough to reclaim the Clean status it lost last year. ‘Adopt a Road Litter Campaign’ along N55 Athlone Approach Road appears to be having the desired effect as it was very much deserving of the top litter grade. There was a notable improvement at Derelict site on approach to town centre at the corner of R212 and Ballinagh Road (previously it was a blackspot, this time it was top ranking).

'While one derelict site has been addressed, another has been highlighted - at the steps coming from James Connolly Street and leading to Fairgreen Hill / St Brigid’s Terrace – it wasn’t just casually littered but subject to household dumping and widespread graffiti. While there were seven top ranking sites, the presence of this and another poor site at Laneway from Main Street to Tesco Car Park impacts on the overall ranking.'

The number of areas deemed clean by An Taisce, who carry out the survey on behalf of IBAL, rose from 17 to 23. In all, 68% of towns showed an improvement on last year. Portlaoise, which was at the very foot of the table back in 2010, topped the rankings, ahead of Leixlip and past winner Ennis.

IBAL’s Conor Horgan commented: “With local authority cleaning schedules normalising again and volunteer groups re-engaged in clean-ups across the country, our towns are almost as clean as two years ago. This is still some way short of where they were in 2014, however.”

By contrast, the majority of urban areas fared worse than in 2020, among them Dublin, Cork and Limerick City Centres, which were all deemed ‘littered’.

A bleak picture for cities

All but one of the bottom 10 places in the rankings were occupied by urban areas. “For cities, this survey paints a bleak picture,” comments Conor Horgan. “Litter levels have worsened to a level we have not seen in the past ten years. Now that we have emerged from lockdown, we cannot use it as an excuse for high levels of litter.

“As we invest in promotional drives and build city hotels in anticipation of more visitors, we need to be mindful of the littered environment we are presenting to them.”

For the first time since 2014, Dublin’s North Inner City was deemed a litter blackspot. Of the 25 sites in the area surveyed, only two were found to be clean, and 17 were ‘heavily littered’ or worse.

Continued Rise in Covid-related litter

The study showed a near-30% increase in the prevalence of PPE masks on our streets and an increase in alcohol-related litter such as cans and bottles.

“The need for PPE has not abated – unfortunately we’re still using disposable masks, we’re still dropping them at an alarming rate and they are still not being picked up,“ says Conor Horgan.

“We are consuming more outdoors and this is translating into more food- and drink-related litter.”

Despite this, the survey showed a 20% drop in coffee cup litter. There was also a steep fall-off in cigarette butts.

IBAL was once again critical of the failure of local authorities to address sites previously highlighted as heavily littered, especially in urban areas. Of the 103 such sites exposed last year, fewer than half have been cleaned up in 2021.

Set up in 1996, Irish Business Against Litter is an alliance of companies sharing a belief that continued economic prosperity - notably in the areas of tourism, food and direct foreign investment - is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment.

2021 is the 19th year of the IBAL Anti-Litter League.