LETTERKENNY has retained its ‘Clean to European Norms’ designation in the summer survey of litter levels by Irish Business Against Litter.
The town is in 19th spot in the ranking of 40 towns and cities. The latest survey found that while Ireland’s towns and city centres are clean, disadvantaged areas of our cities are suffering increasing levels of litter. IBAL sees more mixed housing as the long-term solution to our urban litter problem.
An Taisce assessed litter levels over the summer months on behalf of IBAL and 77 per-cent of towns and cities were found to be clean. None was deemed a litter blackspot, but five were ‘littered’ or ‘seriously littered’ and scored worse than last year. Fermoy in Cork was the cleanest of the towns surveyed.
The An Taisce report highlighted, “With seven top ranking sites Letterkenny has scored very well. Some of the top ranking sites were not just free of litter but also well presented and maintained, eg Main Street, Scoil Cholmcille National School, Church of Ireland (Diocese of Raphoe) and Ballymacool Town Park – the latter was beautifully landscaped and is clearly a very well respected environment. By far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Letterkenny was the Recycle Facility at the rear of Dunnes Stores Car Park. ”
While Dublin City Centre was clean, registering one of its best ever results, the North Inner City and Ballymun both deteriorated and were ‘heavily littered’. Cork City‘s Northside and Mahon also showed higher levels of litter, as did Ballybane in Galway city, which was bottom of the rankings.
Set up in 1996, Irish Business Against Litter is an alliance of companies sharing a belief that continued economic prosperity – notably in the areas of tourism, food and direct foreign investment – is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment.
As part of the IBAL Anti-Litter League, An Taisce monitors towns independently and in accordance with international grading standards.
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