Ennis has bounced back to be named among the top 5 cleanest towns in Ireland in the latest Irish Business Against Litter Rankings.
An Taisce’s first national litter report of 2024 found the county town improved to be cleaner than European Norms.
A former IBAL winner in 2017, there was considerable discontent when Ennis dropped to 12th place in the national rankings last year.
But , twelve months on IBAL judges have noted significant improvements in the upkeep of the county town.
Ten sites were assessed in Ennis by inspectors, nine of which received an A litter Grade.
These included the R458 Gort Road Approach, Cornmarket Street Car Park, Clare Museum, Parnell Street, Woodquay Promenade, Government offices , the N68 Kilrush Approach Road and the Hawthorns Housing Estate.
Judges noted “great attention to detail in general presentation and cleaning regimes throughout Ennis , with special mention given to The Hawthorns which was described as “a template for a Grade A site” and that “Clearly a careful eye is kept on the boarded up property along Parnell Street as although greenery was growing from it, litter was not present.”
O’Connell Square had too many small litter items such as cigarette butts, sweet papers and chewing gum for the top litter grade according to IBAL and received a B+ instead.
But IBAL says that With a little extra effort / care this could easily be achieved.
Overall, the study showed a fall of 35% in the number of towns branded ‘littered’ nationwide.
Naas regained the top position it lost last year, ahead of Monaghan, new entrant Blanchardstown and Kilkenny City.
There was a near-30% fall in the prevalence of can-related litter since the previous survey ,coinciding with the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.
Plastic bottles were also less common than in any past survey, they remain the third most prevalent form of litter, Coffee cups were found at one in five sites, beer bottles, were found in 10% of sites, while Cigarette butt litter remains stubbornly high, present in 31% of the 500+ sites surveyed.
