Cavan wins cleanest town award for 2003

Cavan has been named as the cleanest town in Ireland by the Irish Business Against Litter organisation.

Bray in Co Wicklow has been awarded the dubious title of dirtiest town in Ireland while Cavan has been crowned the cleanest, according to new research published today.

The Irish Business Against Litter group annual awards involve the assessment of litter levels in 30 towns across the country.

While a record eight towns achieved ’litter free’ status, seven areas were deemed ’litter blackspots’, six of which are in the east of the country.

Longford was named the most improved town, having improved its rating from ’very heavily littered’ to ’clean to European standards’.

While Dun Laoghaire attained a litter-free rating, neighbouring Bray finished at the foot of the table, with Navan, Dublin City Centre and Drogheda also slammed as litter blackspots.

Sligo, Swords and Newbridge were also considered to be ‘heavily littered’.

“Almost half of our total population live in our cities,” said Dr Tom Cavanagh, chairman of IBAL.

“It is encouraging that six of the eight areas have improved since the first reading in Spring, but litter remains a problem in our cities.”

Bray’s local TD, Dick Roche, said he was “very annoyed” about the town’s rating.

“It is certainly not a lack of resources and the council now has questions to answer,” he added.

The aim of the litter league is to bring cleanliness levels up to European norms.