Galway named most littered city

Galway vowed action today after being named as the most untidy part of Ireland.

The Western city topped the scruffy table after being identified, together with central Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Wexford, as well as Swords, Co Dublin, Navan, Co Meath, Ballina, Co Mayo, Drogheda, Co Louth, Newbridge, Co Kildare and Bray, Co Wicklow, as “very heavily littered” spots in a study carried out by An Taisce.

The survey said most towns and cities were either heavily or very heavily littered, and pinpointed the worst offenders.

Just three locations, Cavan, Kilrush, Co Clare, and Fermoy, Co Cork, were handed litter-free status.

The Irish Business Against Litter alliance, which commissioned the survey, said the results were “very disappointing.”

The alliance reported: “Of the towns that competed in 2002, 14 have seen a deterioration in litter levels in the last six months, while only seven have improved.” said the group.

Dr Tom Cavanagh, the organisation’s chairman of IBAL, said the returns showed “just how far we are from the pristine city streets that are commonplace on the continent“.

Dr Cavanagh added criticism of Iarnrod and Bus Eireann, for failing to keep stations free of litter, claiming them they were not being maintained according to the levels of cleanliness and hygiene that commuters deserved.

Galway mayor Val Hanley countered his city’s place at the top of the bad litter list by calling it “a wake-up call.”

He added “It’s a disappointment, but we have to do more to get rid of our waste problem.

“We have to get across to people, both visitors as well as those living and working in the city, that the throw-away culture is not good enough any more.”

The mayor said tidy-up operations might have to be doubled at certain times in an effort to shed Galway’s untidy new image.