Strong showing for Cavan and Monaghan in IBAL survey

Cavan and Monaghan both achieved ‘Clean’ status in the latest IBAL survey, and moved up the ranking of 40 towns and cities.

In this the final survey of 2021 by business group Irish Business Against Litter Cavan regained its 'Clean' status in 17th. Last October the county town had been placed 26th and had been labelled 'moderately littered'. The latest survey saw Monaghan jump an impressive eight places to 12th from 20th.

The IBAL survey also found PPE litter at its highest level nationwide since the pandemic began.

Naas finished ahead of Portlaoise and Ennis to record its first win in the annual rankings. There was a slight fall in the number of clean towns nationwide, to 22.

The An Taisce report for Cavan read: 'With seven out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade, Cavan has improved on its showing earlier in 2021. These include the Main Street, Bridge Street (where the new pavement looked very well), Lakeland Retail Park and the Bring Centre within. Two sites, which had scored poorly previously, have both improved – a derelict site and steps coming from James Connolly Street and the laneway to Tesco Car Park from Main Street. A sustained effort is required at both to prevent deterioration to their former littered state.'

The An Taisce report for Monaghan stated: 'This was Monaghan’s best performance in many years, with seven top ranking sites and no heavily littered sites. Park Street, Devin Reilly Park / Terrace, Market Street / Market House and The Diamond were all very good regarding litter and overall presentation. ‘The Diamond’, in particular was excellent. The Diamond Centre was improved compared to previous litter status but was still littered.'

PPE litter on the increase

The report showed PPE litter at record levels, with an increase in the presence of both masks and gloves. “It would appear that this litter is accumulating as the pandemic continues, as there remains an understandable reticence to pick up other people’s PPE,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan. “The disposable blue face mask has become a ubiquitous part of the landscape up and down the country. People have not moved to reusable masks and people are not taking care of their masks.” International research* has found PPE litter accounting for as much as 5% of all litter, and likely to have “a devastating, lasting effect on the environment”. Mask use is forecast to remain high into 2022.

There was a significant rise in other pandemic-related litter, such as coffee cups, while alcohol-related litter remained at previous levels despite hospitality reopening and the survey being conducted in winter.

IBAL has frequently criticised the failure of local authorities to clean up sites identified in its surveys as heavily littered, and this was again the case. Of 89 such sites highlighted in summer last year, only 33% had been addressed by the time of this most recent survey.