The 10 cleanest towns in Ireland have been named

A little under 90% of 40 towns surveyed in Ireland were at least as clean as the European average.

Ennis saw off the challenge of last year’s winner Kildare to be named as the cleanest town in Ireland in the 2017 Anti-Litter League by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).

The county town of Clare was announced as the winner by Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten at an awards function in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday.

40 towns in total in Ireland were surveyed, with Ennis edging out last year’s winner Kildare and Roscommon to finish at the top of the league. The top ten was completed by Dublin Airport Environs, Tallaght, Longford and Kilkenny (tied for sixth place), Clonmel, Leixlip and Balbriggan.

Waterford was again named as Ireland’s cleanest city.

All of top ten areas in the league were classified as being “cleaner than European norms”, while ten areas in the country were classified as being either “moderately littered” or “littered”.

Limerick City SE (Galvone), meanwhile, was the only area to be classified as “seriously littered”; check out the standings in full below.

A special public sculpture to the value of €40,000 will be commissioned for Ennis to mark the achievement. The two runner-up towns will each receive a number of “Emerald Queen” Norway maple trees to enhance the local environment, courtesy of the Irish Tree Centre in Cork.

An Taisce, which conducts the surveys on behalf of IBAL, commented in its report on Ennis: “An exceptional result for Ennis, which has performed strongly in recent surveys.

“All approach roads to Ennis got the top litter grade and this high standard was maintained for almost all of the sites surveyed in the town.”

Congratulating Ennis, Conor Horgan of IBAL said: “We have seen standards of cleanliness rise and rise since we first commenced this programme back in 2002.

“To achieve top spot now requires maintaining an entire town in an almost pristine condition, which a local authority cannot do alone. In recognition of this fact, the IBAL sculpture is intended as a tribute to the people of Ennis.”

2017 IBAL Anti-Litter League – Final Standings

1. Ennis – Cleaner than European Norms
2. Kildare – Cleaner than European Norms
3. Roscommon – Cleaner than European Norms
4. Dublin Airport – Environs Cleaner than European Norms
5. Tallaght – Cleaner than European Norms
6. T6 Longford – Cleaner than European Norms
7. T6 Kilkenny – Cleaner than European Norms
8. Clonmel – Cleaner than European Norms
9. Leixlip – Cleaner than European Norms
10. Balbriggan – Cleaner than European Norms
11. Portlaoise – Clean to European Norms
12. Tullamore – Clean to European Norms
13. Athlone – Clean to European Norms
14. Waterford City – Clean to European Norms
15. Letterkenny – Clean to European Norms
16. Castlebar – Clean to European Norms
17. Killarney – Clean to European Norms
18. Cavan – Clean to European Norms
19. Thomondgate – Clean to European Norms
20. Sligo – Clean to European Norms
21. Cork City – Clean to European Norms
22. Mallow – Clean to European Norms
23. Monaghan – Clean to European Norms
24. Drogheda – Clean to European Norms
25. Wexford – Clean to European Norms
26. Limerick City – Clean to European Norms
27. Waterford City (Ballybeg) – Clean to European Norms
28. Bray – Clean to European Norms
29. Dundalk – Clean to European Norms
30. Galway City – Moderately littered
31. Tralee – Moderately littered
32. Carlow – Moderately littered
33. Dublin City Centre – Moderately littered
34. Navan – Moderately littered
35. Mahon (Cork City) – Moderately littered
36. Cork North City – Littered
37. Dublin North Inner City – Littered
38. Galway City (Ballybane) – Littered
39. Ballymun – Littered
40. Limerick City SE (Galvone) – Seriously littered

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