Ennis cleans up19
THE cleanest – and dirtiest – places in Ireland have been revealed.
Ennis was found to be the most spick and span town, while Waterford topped the city stakes in the 2017 Anti-litter League.
A spokesman for An Taisce, which conducts the research for Irish Business Against Litter, said: “An exceptional result for Ennis, which has performed strongly in recent surveys.
“All approach roads to Ennis got the top litter grade and this high standard was maintained for almost all of the sites surveyed in the town.”
The Co Clare town edged out 2016 winner Kildare and Roscommon, who both placed in the top three, in a table of 40 towns and cities across the country.
A public sculpture worth €40,000 will be commissioned for Ennis to mark the achievement.
The two runnerup towns will each receive a number of Emerald Queen Norway maple trees to enhance the local environment, courtesy of the Irish Tree Centre in Cork.
But it was a mixed bag of results as parts of Limerick, Galway and Dublin dragged down the cleanliness list.
Bottom of the pile was Galvone in Limerick city which was the only area found to be “seriously littered”.
Cork north city, Dublin north inner city, Ballybane in Galway and Ballymun in Dublin were the only areas put down as “littered” on the table.
Tallaght and Limerick city improved but the centre of Dublin fell back to moderately littered. Overall, 88% of towns surveyed were at least as clean as the European average.
IBAL’S Conor Horgan said: “We have seen standards of cleanliness rise and rise since we first commenced this programme back in 2002.
“To achieve top spot now requires maintaining an entire town in an almost pristine condition, which a local authority cannot do alone.
“In recognition of this fact, the IBAL sculpture is intended as a tribute to the people of Ennis.”
Enivronment Minister Denis Naughten announced the winner at an Minister Naughten with Gerry Murphy and Conor Horgan awards function in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin yesterday.
He added: “The success achieved across the country in the 2017 Litter League shows that, collectively, we are continuing to improve the situation.
“However, we cannot afford to be complacent. Ireland still has a significant issue with litter and, according to the IBAL survey, chewing gum, cigarette butts and cans continue to be major sources of litter.
“It is important we continue to work together to win the fight. Ultimately, it is a matter for each of us to take personal responsibility by disposing of waste and litter in an appropriate manner, in order to preserve and protect our environment for all of us to enjoy.”