LATEST: Naas is judged to be cleanest town in Ireland

The latest survey from business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) reveals Naas in Co Kildare is again cleanest of the 40 towns and cities surveyed across Ireland, with Leixlip claiming 4th position on its return to the rankings.

The An Taisce report for Naas stated: “The excellent results of the last few years have been sustained at Naas – we can see that it takes a great deal of hard work on behalf of many, on a consistent basis, to achieve this result – well done to all concerned.  With so many top ranking sites, a few deserve a special mention e.g. North Main Street (exceptionally freshly presented), Canal Walk at Abbey Bridge (a lovely waterside environment) and Abbey Street Car Park.”

The An Taisce report for Leixlip stated: “An excellent result for Leixlip on its return to the League. Seven out of the ten sites surveyed received  the top litter grade and the remainder were just shy of same.  Top ranking sites included the Main Street, Rye River Walk / Biodiversity Park, Leixlip Amenities Sports Centre and Town Centre Car Park.  A general observation - there was plenty of evidence of Tidy Towns activities throughout Leixlip, not just at specific sites surveyed but often travelling in between sites, particularly planter boxes / painting of electricity type boxes, a common feature throughout Leixlip.”

Overall, two-thirds of towns were clean, which was up on 2024. Naas was once again top of the ranking of 40 towns and cities, ahead of Ennis and Killarney. Only 4 areas were branded littered or seriously littered – the lowest number on 5 years. Both Dublin and Cork city centres have improved in advance of the peak season for visitors.  

“It is encouraging to see that our main city centres – Dublin and Cork – have improved as we welcome summer visitors to our country. Clean streets are imperative, given the challenges facing Ireland as a high-cost destination,” says IBAL’s Conor Horgan

Dublin’s North Inner City, seriously littered, remains rooted to the foot of the rankings.

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Conor Horgan comments: “No progress is likely in the North Inner City without a ban on bags. We need the Council to come good on its intention to convert the entire city to bin collection services. In addition, it is high time that appropriate legal changes were brought into effect to allow the council to pursue those responsible for littered basements, an age-old blight on our Capital City.”

One year on from the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, plastic bottle and can litter is down 50% on previous levels but was still found in 20% of the 500-plus sites surveyed across the country. "We hope that the scheme will see the disappearance of this litter, but statistics so far do not bear this out. Cans and plastic bottles are far from a rare sight on our streets and in our hedgerows," says Conor Horgan.

While the prevalence of coffee cups on our streets remains stubbornly high, there was a fall-off in disposable vape litter. The UK and Northern Ireland outlawed disposable vapes earlier this month and a ban here is likely in the coming months.

The survey found the main streets of towns to be generally clean, as were heritage and amenity sites. Residential areas, bus and train stations and recycle facilities were most likely to be littered.