Cork and Limerick city centres among country's most littered areas

Discarded PPE, such as facemasks, is contributing to a steep rise in litter levels in many towns and cities across the country. File picture: Domnick Walsh

Litter is blighting cities to a level not seen in a decade, but the country's towns are seeing a general improvement, with Portlaoise now the cleanest.

The first post-lockdown survey by Ibal (Irish Businesses Against Litter) identified Dublin's north inner city as the worst, deeming it a “litter blackspot”, although Tallaght and Ballymun registered “significant year-on-year improvement”.