*Photograph: John Mangan
DOOLIN, LAHINCH and Mountshannon have been found not to match European norms for cleanliness, all recording a dip in their status.
Slips were recorded for three Clare areas in the annual survey of coasts and inland waterways by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).
Beaches, harbours, rivers and their immediate environs were monitored by An Taisce in June and July. While there was a 50% rise in clean sites overall, the survey again found coastal areas to be more littered than our towns.
Both Lahinch and Doolin were deemed to be ‘littered’ which is the worst of the three categories while Mountshannon dropped into the ‘moderately littered’ category. The study of thirty three areas nationwide detailed that most littered areas have cleaned up but the majority of beaches fall short of clean status, despite the unsettled summer meaning lower visitor numbers. For the first time since IBAL commenced its coastal surveys in 2017, no area was deemed a litter blackspot
An Taisce’s report for Mountshannon stated that it missed out on the top litter grade because of “with too many small food and alcohol related items strewn about. Recent grass cutting resulted in ‘chopped up litter’ as grass was cut before the litter was removed. The recycle facilities were freshly presented, however one unit had a crack towards the base on the right hand side. Car parking area, litter bins, visitor information notices, litter bins, life-belts, etc were freshly presented. One of the dog fouling notices along the walkway had been defaced. As well as the food related litter, the most obvious items were cigarette butts. Evidence of BBQs included burnt grass and some disposable BBQ waste”.
A ”very definite litter presence” was noted at Doolin Pier and Harbour, surpassing the 2022 survey. “Signage was very clear and legible but there didn’t appear to be any specific notices relating to littering and based on the amount of litter present, there is very much a need for same. Almost all of the litter was food related e.g. pizza boxes, plastic bottles, cans (alcohol and mineral), coffee cups, sweet papers, food utensils etc. Other items included tissue paper. The most obvious non-food items were cigarette butts not just isolated butts but several accumulations throughout. The majority of the litter was around the perimeter of the car park and on the stoney area. The dog fouling amenity beneath the large signage was in good condition”.
Although the main beach of Lahinch was viewed to be “generally fine” when it came to litter, the promenade, rock armour and car parks brought down the overall grade. “The area was certainly more heavily littered than in the 2022 survey. Heavy levels of alcohol / mineral cans, fast-food wrappers, plastic bottles, plastic utensils, sweet wrappers, dog-fouling and cigarette butts, with lower levels of other items were present. There was a variety of marine related (along with food items) litter trapped in the rock armour near the promenade e.g. fishing crates, lines / nets / ropes etc. A somewhat filled black sack was discarded by a Big Belly bin with other items accumulating on top of it. The older blue style bins look very ‘tired’ and risk the contents being extracted by birds, there didn’t appear to be any signage associated with them. This is in contrast to the freshly presented Dog Fouling facility which was in very good order. There was the remains of several fires in the grass near the top car park”.
Conor Horgan of IBAL stated, “Over an unsettled summer, where our beaches attracted far fewer numbers than normal, one might have expected the majority to be virtually free of litter. Unfortunately, this does not reflect the state of our coastal environment. There is much ‘long lie’ litter and waste coming in from the sea, and this is compounded by litter from those who continue to frequent our coastline despite the inclement weather”.
Disposable vapes were revealed as an emerging form of litter, encountered in one in seven of all visits, making them significantly more common on our beaches than on our streets. “This time last year we were not seeing this form of litter at all, so its rapid emergence is worrying. So, too, is its impact on our environment,” warned Conor. He said IBAL favours the banning of disposable vapes, which, it contends, run counter to the notion of a circular economy
IBAL credits the Clean Coasts programme, which supports over 2,000 volunteer groups, as a major force in ridding coasts of litter throughout the year. Its annual ‘Big Beach Clean’ takes place nationwide each September. The continued rise in volunteers, now in excess of 40,000, reflects the growing public concern around the marine environment.
