A new survey has found that Dublin city centre is one of Ireland’s most litter-filled areas.
In the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey, the capital’s city centre was the fourth-most littered area out of 40 towns and cities analysed. Coming in second was another Dublin area, with the north inner city taking the spot.
Another Dublin spot, Tallaght, also managed to get into the top 10, taking the seventh-place spot for most littered.
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Dundalk was the dirtiest of all the areas and was ranked as seriously littered with Maynooth garnering the top spot for one of the cleanest areas and getting the label of "cleaner than European norms".
Waterford and Galway were the only clean cities within the survey. However, Cork city centre, Mahon, Limerick city and Galvone have all made some progress, as has Ballymun.
Among the litter in six per cent of the sites surveyed in the report were vaping devices, which were included as a type of litter in the survey for the first time and were described by the IBAL as an "especially toxic form of litter".
Furthermore, discarded furniture, sleeping bags and blankets were found off Thomas Street in Dublin by An Taisce who conducted the survey on behalf of the IBAL.
They also found a basement on O'Connell Street "wasn't just littered but subject to dumping".
Conor Horgan, of IBAL, said: "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.
"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."
