Top marks for Galway in IBAL Litter League but Docks is described as ‘neglected’

Galway has regained its status as a ‘clean’ city in the latest survey of littering in towns and cities across Ireland.

Waterside walks were singled out for praise by judges in the Irish Business Against Litter league tables for 2015.

While some areas were even praised as being in ‘excellent’ condition, the Docks area was described as ‘neglected’ and littered with food wrappings.

And problems with dog fouling were again found to be a problem on Salthill Promenade.

Three months ago, environmental group An Taisce – which carried out the survey for IBAL – stripped Galway of its ‘Clean to European norms’ status and branded it ‘moderately littered’.

Of 40 towns and cities surveyed across Ireland, Galway City has been placed in 25th place – that’s up from 33rd in a survey last September, which found the canal walk beside the Cathedral in a “shocking” condition and “utterly destroyed” with litter.

This time around, the report recorded a significant improvement in some parts of the city.

“There was a noticeable improvement in some of the Galway City sites e.g. Spanish Arch, Canal Lock below Wolfe Tone Bridge and Eglinton Canal Walk – the latter is well on its way to the top litter grade, but not quite there yet.

“Some of the top ranking sites in Galway City included the residential area of Lios an Uisce (Renmore) which was very well-presented and maintained.

“The grounds of Bon Secours Hospital were in excellent order.  Renmore Sports and Leisure Park is a wonderful open green space and was very well-maintained. Renmore Garrison Church and Memorial were both pristine,” the survey found.

A total of 25 sites were surveyed here – 17 received ‘Grade A’ (clean to European norms and virtual absence of litter); six received a ‘B’ (moderately littered, scattered small amounts of litter) and two received a ‘C’ (serious litter problem, accumulations of litter. None received a litter blackspot ‘Grade D’. The problem of dog fouling on Salthill Promenade has again been identified as an issue, despite the Council’s warning notices and audio warnings.

This was a turnaround on the previous survey last year which found the Prom “was excellent and managed to get the top litter grade, despite high levels of activity – dog fouling was not an issue and has clearly been addressed”.

The recycling facility at Toft Park in Salthill was given a ‘Grade C’, because of an accumulation of litter.

IBAL spokesperson Conor Horgan said that across the country, recycling facilities – the responsibility of the local councils – and disused or abandoned sites were the sites most prone to litter, with two thirds found to be littered or worse, followed by promenades and river walks.

“As the economy recovers, there are signs that the number of vacant or disused sites is declining, which augurs well for a clean environment.

“In other instances we have seen abandoned sites being put to novel uses, such as inner city gardens. We would like to see more of this, as the benefit it brings to the community can go well beyond cleanliness,” he said.

Eleven locations in Ireland were declared ‘cleaner than European norms’ – Longford, Dun Laoghaire, Kilkenny, Dungarvan, Drogheda, Killarney, Roscommon, Waterford City, Carlow, Swords and Wexford.

Farranree in Cork City was described as ‘seriously littered’ and North Inner City Dublin was ‘littered’.