Maynooth Takes Over From Naas Atop IBAL Cleanliness Rankings

Maynooth won out ahead of Mallow, Kilkenny, Clonmel and Ennis.

The latest nationwide survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter shows Maynooth to be cleanest of 40 towns and cities surveyed.

Naas, previously 1st, is again clean, but now in 10th position. The great majority of Ireland’s towns were found to be clean, but two-thirds of city areas are still littered.

The survey presents a snapshot of cleanliness levels across Ireland as the peak summer tourist season commences

 An Taisce, who carry out the surveys for IBAL, commented: “A near-perfect showing gives busy student town Maynooth top spot in the rankings. 

"Many of the open / outdoor spaces were particularly good, not just with regard to litter but the presentation and maintenance of same e.g., Carton Avenue / Parkland, Maynooth Campus, St. Patrick’s College and the Sculpture / Heritage Wall. 

"It was great to see the participation of Maynooth Tidy Towns beside Buckley House (Parsons Street), a boarded-up property.” 

“IBAL winner in 2021 and 2022, Naas continues to rate very highly with seven out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade – these included various approach routes, the residential area of Hollywood Park and Canal Bank at Abbey Bridge. 

"The only blot on the landscape was one heavily littered site at Derelict site at corner of Rathaskar Road and New Row – it wasn’t just littered but subject to dumping.”

Over 90% of towns surveyed were deemed clean, compared with just 28% of city areas. Maynooth won out ahead of Mallow, Kilkenny, Clonmel and Ennis.

Dundalk, ‘seriously littered’ at the very foot of the table, and ‘moderately littered’ Tralee, were the sole towns to miss out on clean status.

Waterford and Galway were once again our only clean cities. Cork City Centre, Mahon, Limerick City and Galvone have all made some progress, as has Ballymun. Dublin City Centre, however, has deteriorated from ‘moderately littered’ to ‘littered’.     

PPE disappearing, vapes on the rise

The survey showed that PPE litter has not disappeared entirely, with masks found in 7% of sites. There was a slight drop in the prevalence of alcohol cans and bottles, but coffee cups were present in 20% of sites, which, IBAL maintains, backs up the need for a coffee cup levy.  There was an increase in cigarette butt litter.

Vaping devices were included as a litter type for the first time and were evident in 6% of sites.

2023 IBAL ANTI-LITTER LEAGUE – ROUND ONE