Limerick city loses its 'clean status' and Cork's northside considered 'littered'
While no areas were deemed as 'litter black spots', Galvone in Limerick was considered 'seriously littered'. Photo: Andy Gibson
Limerick is no longer deemed a 'clean' city, according to a survey carried out by an Taisce.
Of the 40 towns surveyed, 23 were deemed to be 'clean', a fall of over 20% on last year. The city centres of Dublin and Galway joined Limerick in losing their clean status.
While no areas were deemed as 'litter black spots', Galvone in Limerick was considered 'seriously littered'. The survey noted that there were "heavy levels of litter abounded" and the area’s recycling facility was “subject to dumping on a monumental scale”.
Cork city centre was rated as clean by European norms, however, the north side of the City was ranked in 38th place out of 40 by an Taisce, deeming it 'littered'.
Dublin's north inner city fared the worst in the survey, with observers noting "major accumulations of food-related and other miscellaneous items within the water” in the Canal at Ossary Road. By contrast, Ballymun was one of the few areas to improve in the rankings, with its Main Street described as "very well presented, with a virtual absence of litter throughout."
Kilkenny once again was chosen as the cleanest town, edging out Athlone and Portlaose to take the top spot.
Commenting on the survey, Irish Business Against Litter spokesperson Conor Horgan says the pandemic has led to a rise in dumping, nationwide.
"The Covid crisis has seen more dumping, more outdoor socialising, especially drinking, and PPE litter, but less cleaning by local authorities and less activity by volunteers like tidy towns - a perfect storm, in many ways, which has brought us to the worst position we’ve been in in over 10 years."
The survey found that PPE litter was prevalent with masks five times as common on our streets than gloves.
“Understandably, people are reluctant to pick up these items for fear of contracting Covid, so they tend to stay on the ground. We need to see a rapid rise in the use of reusable masks,” said Mr Horgan.
