*Tipperary supporters walk down O’Connell Street. Photograph: Ruth Griffin
ENNIS is the second cleanest of forty towns and cities across Ireland.
‘Cleaner than European Norms’ status has been regained by Ennis in the latest survey from business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL). The county town has jumped from thirteenth to second in the ranking of forty towns and cities in Ireland.
Of the ten locations surveyed in Ennis, nine were marked ‘Grade A’ status with one ‘Grade B’ marking as the town narrowly missed out on top spot in the IBAL rankings to Naas.
Overall, two-thirds of towns were clean, which was up on 2024. Naas was once again top of the ranking of 40 towns and cities, ahead of Ennis and Killarney. Only four areas were branded littered or seriously littered, the lowest number in five years. Both Dublin and Cork city centres have improved in advance of the peak season for visitors.
Public realm works in Ennis were praised by An Taisce for creating “lovely streetscapes” at O’Connell Street and High Street.
The N85 approach from the M18 to Clareabbey Roundabout was the first area surveyed in Ennis. An Taisce reported it as “an exceptionally freshly presented route” absent of litter. It was pristine, creating a very positive first impression of Ennis, this high standard was sustained for the almost all of the remaining sites surveyed”.
Paving, planted areas and wooden seating were labelled as “lovely features” on O’Connell St which was reported as “looking exceptionally fresh”. The report noted, “While it was typically a high ranking site in previous surveys, this time around the overall presentation of same is at another level”.
Similarly An Taisce have said works on High Street have “resulted in a lovely pedestrian shopping environment. There was no litter directly associated with closed down or vacant outlets. The relatively recent issue of ‘vape stickers’ on litter bins have made their way to the street bins”.
Signage at Friar’s Walk car park was “in very good order and the overall impression was of a well-attended environment”. Dunnes Stores car park had been heavily littered in previous surveys but a visible improvement was noted as it received the top litter grade.
Aldi’s deposit return scheme on the Kilrush Rd was “an immaculate site, a temple for Grade A” with the area surrounding it “spotless”. College View and the Kilrush Rd was “very freshly presented and maintained” with freshly cut grassland, clean pavements, parking spaces and road surfaces. “Lovely tree planting” resulted in high praise for Abbey Court.
Place de Paul De Fenouillet by the Clare Museum and Friary car park showcased “an attractively presented town centre environment with good visitor information noticeboard, sculpture, tree planting, seating, ‘olde’ style street lamps etc, all of which were in very good order”.
Wood Quay to the Riverwalk was the only area of the ten surveyed not to receive a Grade A marking. “Overall impression created along this riverside environment was a positive one with paving, seating, and litter bins in very good order. Site was let down by the very deliberate ‘stuffing’ of cardboard boxes behind the black street bin,” the report stated.
One year on from the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, plastic bottle and can litter is down 50% on previous levels but was still found in 20% of the 500-plus sites surveyed across the country. “We hope that the scheme will see the disappearance of this litter, but statistics so far do not bear this out. Cans and plastic bottles are far from a rare sight on our streets and in our hedgerows,” Conor Horgan of IBAL stated.
While the prevalence of coffee cups on our streets remains stubbornly high, there was a fall-off in disposable vape litter. The UK and Northern Ireland outlawed disposable vapes earlier this month and a ban here is likely in the coming months. The survey found the main streets of towns to be generally clean, as were heritage and amenity sites. Residential areas, bus and train stations and recycle facilities were most likely to be littered.
