Dublin's north inner city a litter blackspot, survey finds

DUBLIN IS the great exception in a decade of increasing cleanliness in Irish towns, according to campaign group Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal).

In the Ibal final survey for 2011, to be published today, just two urban areas are described as “litter blackspots”, Knocknaheeney in Cork and Dublin’s north inner city.

Ibal said the good news is that in 10 years of assessments Irish towns and villages have significantly cleaned up what was once a serious litter problem, despite a squeeze on resources felt by many local authorities.

But while Dublin has improved slightly this year, a spokesman said the capital remained “the toughest nut to crack”. While many tourist areas and shopping precincts such as Grafton Street are “quite clean”, Ibal said residential districts such as Smithfield let the city down. Dublin’s north inner city was judged to be a litter blackspot, having suffered a deterioration on the previous survey conducted earlier in 2011.

An Taisce, which carried out the survey, described parts of the area as “not just littered, but suffering long-term abuse and neglect”.

Similarly the residential areas of Knocknaheeny in Cork were described as being “in a terrible state” while the area had deteoriated since the last survey.

Four areas were considered “littered”: Tipperary town, Dublin City, Portlaoise and Letterkenny.

Elsewhere the final survey for 2011 found more then 70 per cent of the Republic’s towns to be litter-free. Some 38 of the 53 towns and cities surveyed were deemed “clean to European norms”, a similar number to last year.

When Ibal instituted the league 10 years ago, only two towns were “clean to European norms” and one in three were litter blackspots.

“We have witnessed a quiet revolution in the appearance of our towns and cities over the past decade, and the Ibal league has been a driver of this,” said Ibal chairman Dr Tom Cavanagh.

“In fact, 90 per cent of local authorities recently stated that if the league were to cease there would be a drop off in the cleanliness levels we have achieved.

“Our environment continues to get cleaner despite a tightening of the public purse at local authority level,” said Dr Cavanagh.

“This indicates the fight against litter is not about money. It’s equally about a spirit of pride and volunteerism among the local community, and we’re seeing a resurgence of this in a climate where the need to attract tourists, local shoppers and new inhabitants to local towns is greater than ever.”