IBAL report ranks Dundalk as the most littered town in Ireland

Dundalk has been ranked the most littered town in Ireland after finishing bottom of the latest Irish Business Against Litter Survey (IBAL).

An Taisce, who carried out the survey on behalf of IBAL, deemed Dundalk to be “seriously littered” with just one site out of ten getting the top litter grade.

Two sites in particular, the clothes recycle bank and immediate environs on Castletown Road and the car park and adjacent wasteground, were highlighted as litter blackspots, meaning they were not just casually littered but subject to dumping.

A couple of sites had improved somewhat compared to previous IBAL surveys, but still had a litter presence namely, the recycle facility at Tesco (R132) and the wasteground at the corner of Maxwell and St. Nicholas.

In a statement, Dundalk Tidy Towns expressed their “great disappointment” upon hearing the news.

“Firstly, we want to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who give up their time to help keep Dundalk a Tidy Town.

“The Committee would also like to thank Dundalk Town and the many Residents Associations across Dundalk for their tireless work maintaining their areas.

“The results of the survey are obviously disheartening and are not a reflection on the great work that happens across the town every week by council staff and contractors, volunteers and communities.

“Dundalk Tidy Towns has already written to Louth County Council this morning seeking a meeting on these results and will provide updates on our social media pages.”

The An Taisce report gave the clothes recycle bank on the Castletown Road a D rating noting that:

“There were litter items under, beside and immediate[ly] behind the units, some nonrecyclable items. The area behind the wall of the units had been subject to not just litter but dumping.”

The car park and adjacent wasteground fared little better as although it was remarked that the car park surface was excellent, according to An Taisce the area was, “littered, most especially in the top corner and next to the SVP recycle bin.

The regular recycle units had been brightly painted. The adjacent wasteground had been subject to dumping, a mix of recent and ‘long-lie’ items.”

The report went on to ask: “Where does responsibility for this site lie?”

Meanwhile, the Castletown approach road was given a grade C with the adjudicators commenting:

“The area around and close to the railway bridge was reasonably clean and the coffee shop was lovely.

“However, further out from the town, there was a steady increase in all manner of litter, mostly food related.

“The most obvious items were plastic bottles, fast-food wrappers and sweet papers with lower levels of other food items, alcohol cans, face-masks, cigarette butts and dog fouling.

“Much of the litter was at the base of the low-lying shrubbery which appeared as if it lacked a thorough cleaning for quite some time.”

Similarly, no improvements were noted at the site around the Castletown River bridge, which also received a C grade with judges noticing “heavy accumulations of a wide variety of items had gathered over the bridge and commenting “this area presented very poorly”

There was more positive news for other areas however, as the R132 approach (from junction with N52 to Welcome to Dundalk signage) was given an A grade.

There were no visible litter issues along this route, with the report saying it created a positive first impression of Dundalk. Road and pavement surface were also noted to be in good order.

The Coes Road / Butterly Business Park just missed out on a top grade instead receiving a B+. While the judges said that most of the area was good with regard to litter, they also commented that it was impossible to ignore at an unmade premises on the bend, with small amounts between here and the N52. All the litter, bar cigarette butts, was food related.

The report said of Michael McNeela Riverwalk, which also received a grade B+:

“While not quite the top litter grade, this was one of the cleaner sites surveyed in Dundalk.

“It is a lovely riverside amenity which was freshly presented and maintained.

“Apart from some dog fouling, the remainder of the litter was food related and mostly found at the benches / tables. Some of the Dog Fouling signage was blurred. With a little extra effort, this could be a top-ranking site.”

Improvement was noted at the wasteground at the corner of Maxwell and St. Nicholas, which received a B grade, and at the recycle facility at Tesco, which was given the same grade.

Of the facility, the report said: “On first impressions, all looked very well, with the recycle bin units and associated notices were freshly presented. While not quite as heavily littered as before, there was still a litter presence, most notably items stuffed to the side and behind the recycle bin units.”

Finally, Clanbrassil Street was given a grade B with particular praise given to the new paving along the street, which judges said created “a very fresh impression.”

Planting and seating areas were also singled out for praise. However, the report further commented that:

“There was a definite litter presence, including a wide variety of food related items, dog fouling, cigarette butts and vaping devices, most notable at the street furniture.”

Responding to the findings, Louth Fine Gael senator John McGahon has called for more funding to be allocated to Dundalk Tidy Towns.

“Dundalk Tidy Towns are doing incredible work in recent years, and there is not a day goes by that they aren’t out on the streets and roads around town making it a cleaner and tidier place for everyone.

“They put hundreds of hours in every week. This survey result is not a reflection on them, indeed without their work, we would be in a far worse situation.

“But they are volunteers and can only do so much, their extraordinary efforts need to be backed up and reinforced with proper funding.”

“Clearly the funding that is being provided to keep Dundalk clean is not enough, if it was, we wouldn’t be ranked at the bottom of this survey. They should be commended by all of us for their hard work.

“If it’s a case that we need to allocate more financial resources to support Dundalk Tidy Towns then we should. There should be no question about that.

“Dundalk is the best town in Ireland to live in, we have excellent schools, transport links, housing and job opportunities, so there’s no reason why we can’t be the best when it comes to cleanliness too,” Senator McGahon concluded.

Dundalk Tidy Towns have asked that everyone be mindful of litter in their area, saying:

“Dundalk Tidy Towns is a small voluntary organisation and we rely on the help and support of the people of Dundalk in keeping the town tidy.

“Dundalk is a large urban area and we invite everyone to play their part. If you would like to get involved contact us on our social media pages.”