Mixed results for different areas of Cork in latest litter survey

Cork's northside should no longer be included in the anti-litter surveys carried out by An Taisce, a councillor has said following the publication of the final Irish Business Against Litter survey for 2023.

The area was again found to be among the country’s most littered communities, ranking at number 35 of 40, just ahead of Mahon at 36th.

Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins said it was unfair to target individual communities like the northside, and said areas across the major cities should be reviewed together. 

He added that he would be proposing a motion at a future council meeting to exclude the northside from future IBAL surveys.

According to the report for Cork’s northside, there had been “little change in the litter situation” since last surveyed, with “too few clean sites and a number of litter blackspots”.

The citation for the northside said: “Some of the more heavily littered sites showed little improvement.

“On first impression, the Recycle Facility at Aldi presented very well — however, further inspection to the rear told a different story.

“The overall impression along Old Youghal Road was of a littered environment.”

However, there were some positives. 

“One of the best top-ranking sites was Gerry O’Sullivan Park — great care has been taken with the presentation and maintenance of this lovely expanse of green space. Other top-ranking sites included Pope’s Hill, North City Link Road and Shandon Street.”

Cork city centre was found to be moderately littered and came in at 28th.

In Cork city centre, “over half of the sites surveyed got the top litter grade”.

There were positive references to MacCurtain Street, Horgan’s Quay, and Port Lane in the report, while Kennedy Quay, Caroline Street, and Railway Street/Penrose Quay were described as poor with William Street being the “most heavily littered site”.

The citation for Mahon, Cork’s lowest scoring area, suggested that more litter awareness notices should be erected, and commented that while there were no litter blackspots, sites such as Avenue de Rennes, Cappanoole, and Ballinure Avenue were as ‘heavily littered’.

Meanwhile, Mallow retained its ranking as cleaner than European norms, in second place on the overall list just behind Maynooth, Ireland’s tidiest community.

Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes paid tribute to county council workers and Tidy Towns volunteers for the work they had put in to ensuring the north Cork town had rated so highly. 

“It shows the value of co-operation between council workers and the Tidy Towns people, and it’s also worth pointing out that we’re working actively to deal with the problem of vacant and derelict buildings in the town.”

The adjudicators had said sites such as Tip O’Neill Park, Mallow Castle and Grounds, and the Riverwalk were “excellent with regards to litter”.

Nationally, coffee cups were found at over 30% of the more than 500 sites surveyed, while disposable vapes were found in more than 10% of all sites covered.