A NEW SUVERY has found that while the majority of Irish town streets are clean, two thirds of city areas have problems with litter. Dublin in particular has “deteriorated”. 

The nationwide survey was conducted by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), who said the research “presents a snapshot of cleanliness levels across Ireland as the peak summer tourist season commences”. 

According to IBAL, litter levels were largely unchanged from the survey the group conducted a year ago, with Maynooth named the cleanest of all. 

“2022 saw a dramatic fall in the number of heavily littered sites or ‘blackspots’ across the country, and this welcome trend has continued into 2023,” an IBAL statement said. 

“However, An Taisce, who carry out the surveys on behalf of IBAL, encountered discarded furniture, sleeping bags and blankets off Thomas Street in Dublin, a basement on O’Connell Street ‘wasn’t just littered but subject to dumping’, while Cork Northside’s Cathedral Walk was subject to dumping and ‘an eye-sore for children playing in the school yard directly opposite’.”

The disparity between the cleanliness of towns versus cities is stark, with 90% of towns being deemed clean compared to just 28% of city areas. 

Waterford and Galway were the only cities categorised as clean while Cork City Centre, Mahon, Limerick City and Galvone and Ballymun have “made progress”, according to the IBAL report on the findings. 

Dublin, however, has been downgraded from “moderately littered” to “littered”, which tracks with recent reporting from The Journal on Dublin City Council members decrying the state of the city’s streets and waste collection system. 

“Clearly, tourism is a focus of this annual summer survey and unfortunately the major urban gateways to our towns and countryside – notably Dublin – are falling short of the mark, and creating an underwhelming first impression for visitors,“ according to Conor Horgan of IBAL.

“As a high-cost destination, tourists to Ireland can expect better. It’s a fact, too, that the great work being done in our towns is negated by litter in our cities.”   

Vapes were also included in the survey for the first time this year and were found to be present at 6% of sites examined. 

“The impact of disposable vapes is twofold,” said Conor Horgan. “Not only are they single-use plastic, but the lithium battery within them is an especially toxic form of litter.

“Unfortunately, as is our experience with coffee cups, consumers tend to opt for the convenience of the disposable product. In striving for a circular economy, the case for banning them is a strong one.”

Now that personal protective equipment like masks are no longer a significant factor in littering, there is no excuse for the levels of rubbish left on street, Horgan said. 

“With cleaning schedules normalised and PPE litter not a major factor, we can no longer look to Covid as an excuse for littered city streets. Now is the time to assign a new priority to litter, with concrete, resourced actions. In the absence of this, things will not get better,” he said.