Kilkenny cleanest in litter survey

Kilkenny city is the cleanest of all towns and cities in Ireland. Monitored over 2012, the city pipped Cavan and Killarney in third to the title in the annual Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey. It is the first time the city has won the IBAL Litter League, taking the title from last year’s winner Trim.

Thanking council staff and Keep Kilkenny Beautiful volunteers, mayor of Kilkenny Seán Ó hArgáin said the award showed the care and pride Kilkenny people had for their city.

Conducted by An Taisce, the survey now in its 16th year deemed 22 towns cleaner than the European average, 13 “clean to European norms”, while six were “moderately littered”. While none was deemed “littered” or “seriously littered”, Dublin’s north inner city was a “litter blackspot”.

IBAL chairman Dr Tom Cavanagh blamed absentee landlords and local property owners such as Nama and Iarnród Éireann for the litter problem.

“On the one hand we have derelict buildings whose landlords are nowhere to be seen and so cannot be held to account for the surrounding litter and dumping . On the other we have State-owned property owners who are just not fulfilling their obligations under the Litter Pollution Acts to keep the areas outside and within their premises free of litter.”