Litter blackspots across Cork city
There were mixed results again this year in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey with Cork city centre missing out on a ‘clean’ status while the northside is still ‘littered’.
Business group IBAL said a fall in plastic bottles and cans on our streets, brought about by the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), was not enough to reduce overall litter levels in Ireland last year. The survey of 40 towns and cities showed Cork city centre is still ‘moderately littered’, alongside Mahon, which has improved. Cork ‘s northside is littered and close to the foot of the rankings, but Mallow is clean, in 21st position.
Reacting to the news, Cork City Council welcomed the report on Monday and said it has considered its contents.
However, it felt the classification of the city centre as being moderately littered does not reflect the hard work and dedication of the city council’s street sweeping crews who are out seven days a week from early morning to late in the evening, nor the commitment of the majority of businesses and property owners in the city.
The An Taisce report for Cork city centre stated:
“As was the case in the previous year, Cork came up short of clean status in 2024. There were no litter blackspots, but five sites were heavily littered, including William St, Penrose Quay, Kennedy Quay and Anderson Quay.
“Alcohol related litter and graffiti were very much a feature of many of the sites surveyed. Improved sites included North Abbey Street; South Mall; Caroline Street; Bridge Street – this was a hugely improved environment, very much deserving of the top litter grade this time around.
“Other top-ranking sites included Mardyke Walk, Mardyke Street, Cork Skate Park, Opera Lane and Lee Banks Walkway – a freshly presented waterside environment with all elements in very good order.”
The report for Cork’s northside stated:
“With three litter blackspots and just three top-ranking sites out of a total of 25 sites surveyed, Cork’s northside has seen its cleanliness rating slip somewhat.
“There were seven sites which just missed the top litter grade – not much effort is required to attain this.
“Examples included Cathedral Road, Shandon Street, Templeacre Avenue and Gerald Griffin Street. Little improvement was noted at Hillgrove Lane; corner of North Monastery Road and St Mary's Road and a vacant site at Cushing Place. No 14 Cathedral Walk, previously a litter blackspot, is now a Grade A site – success!”
Mahon report:
“It is great to be able to report on significant improvements overall in Mahon, with just one litter blackspot. This is a big improvement compared to just a year ago. The recent works / local initiatives certainly seem to be paying dividends. Hopefully this upward trajectory will continue. Improvement noted at Ringmahon Road, which was very much deserving of the top litter grade this time around.
“Pedestrian link to Aldi was also somewhat improved. By far the most heavily littered site was the litter blackspot at a retail area off Ave de Rennes – it wasn’t just littered but subject to dumping. St Michael's Lawn at The Maples and Cappanoole and St Michael's Drive both were heavily littered.”
Mallow report:
“A notable drop compared to the last few IBAL surveys of Mallow, with just three top ranking sites this time around.
“On a positive note, (the area around a discount chemist) was much improved compared to a previous IBAL litter survey, albeit still somewhat littered. The Deposit Return Scheme at Aldi was brought down by a bag of ‘dumped’ plastic bottles/cans left within the facility.
“Mallow Train Station could easily get the top litter grade if the cigarette butt issue was addressed – there didn’t appear to be any facility for the disposal of same. By far the most heavily littered site was Church View Play Area & Environs.”