Ballybane is one of the most seriously littered places in the country, tumbling in the latest IBAL Litter Survey.
Ballybane sits squarely at the bottom of the latest survey of Irish towns and cities released by Irish Businesses Against Litter today.
It is one of only two places in the country deemed ‘Seriously Littered’ in the survey, along with Drogheda, getting worse since the last survey.
An Taisece, which conducts the surveys on behalf of IBAL, took note of the level of dumping in Ballybane, with a “all manner of Litter (and) a mountain of black sacks”.
The survey also took aim at the “incredible air of neglect” at Ballybane Indistrial Estate, which is used as a dumping ground.
However, Galway City Centre and Ballinasloe were both deemed ‘Clean to European Norms’, with the city centre climbing from 24th ace in last December’s survey, to 17th place now.
Overall, IBAL found that there has been a decline in the number of Litter blackspots compared with the end of last year.
One area if specific litter which is still a problem is disposable coffee cups, found at a quater of all locations.
IBAL said that the use of paper cups, even recyclable ones, must be disincentivised, as too many of them are ending up on the ground.
The business group said that a government move towards a levy on disposable cups makes sense considering this litter.
On a better note, the amount of COVID related rubbish has dropped sharply in recent months.
Discarded facemasks were found at 17% of sites surveyed, compared with 32% of locations in 2021.
There was also a fall-off in alcohol-related litter, which contributed to an improvement in the state of public parks, 80% of which were clean.
The survey suggests that Ireland is seeing a return to normality post-Covid.
Conor Horgan, IBAL spokesperson said, “With cleaning schedules back to normal, less PPE litter, and less alcohol consumption outdoors, litter levels have fallen.”
“However, despite improvements the centres of our main cities are still littered at a time when we are welcoming our peak tourist numbers.”
“For a high-cost destination, higher standards are required,” comments Mr Horgan.
