The first nationwide survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) of Ireland’s rivers, beaches and harbours has revealed that the River Moy in Ballina is ‘moderately littered’.

While Salhill in Galway and the river Shannon at Carrick on Shannon were two of only four locations nationwide in this study that were Clean to European Norms

The study of beaches, harbours, rivers and their immediate environs, carried out by An Taisce, showed only 4 of 50 areas surveyed were deemed “Clean to European Norms”. Almost 40% were littered or heavily littered, with some areas in Cork Harbour and Doolin Pier in Clare classified as litter blackspots.

 

The river Corrib in Galway city was  like the river Moy in Ballina was deemed Moderately Littered as was the river Garravogue in Sligo town and both Kinvara and Loughrea

 

The An Taisce report for the River Moy reads: “As well as some building materials there were scattered collections of litter - e.g. food and beverage related litter and some dog fouling (all land based).  Water based litter included significant numbers of cans, a crutch and a child's buggy.”

The results from this first national survey by IBAL of Ireland’s rivers, beaches and harbours contrast with those of IBAL’s recent surveys of towns across the country which show 75% of areas to be clean, compared to just 8% in this survey.

 Conor Horgan of IBAL says if we can call our towns clean, we cannot say the same for the areas around our beaches and rivers. It took almost ten years of naming and shaming for local authorities to get to grips with litter in our towns. IBAL has set about pushing for a similar turnabout in respect of coastal areas and waterways.”

IBAL has been publishing litter surveys since 2002 as part of its Anti-Litter League programme, which has helped bring about a spectacular shift in litter levels. 16 years ago, less than 10% of the towns surveyed were deemed ‘Clean’. The most recent report shows three-quarters of towns attaining Clean status.

“The objective of this new campaign is to rid our coasts and waterways of litter, as they are central to the country’s appeal to visitors and an integral part of the clean image we project. Aside from this commercial motivation, our research brings into focus the broader issue of marine litter and the need to stem the vast amounts of plastic and other litter which is entering and killing our oceans.”

The most common forms of litter found by the assessors were cigarette butts, sweet wrappers, plastic bottles and cans.       

 

 

 

Litter survey – rivers, beaches and harbours*

*areas surveyed comprise waterfront and immediate environs

 

Clean to European norms
Kinsale Harbour	Cork
Salthill	Galway
River Shannon (Carrick-on-Shannon)	Leitrim
River Shannon (Lanesboro)	Longford
Moderately littered
Ballybunion	Kerry
Ballycotton	Cork
River Blackwater (Fermoy)	Cork
River Blackwater (Youghal)	Cork
River Boyne (Navan)	Meath
Brittas Bay	Wicklow
Cork Harbour (Crosshaven)	Cork
River Corrib (Galway City)	Galway
Curracloe	Wexford
River Dargle (Bray)	Wicklow
Dun Laoghaire	Dublin
River Garravogue (Sligo town)	Sligo
Kilkee	Clare
Killybegs	Donegal
Kilmore Quay	Wexford
Kinvara	Galway
River Laune (Killorglin)	Kerry
Loughrea	Galway
River Moy (Ballina)	Mayo
River Nore (Kilkenny)	Kilkenny
Portmarnock	Dublin
Rosslare Harbour	Wexford
Seapoint	Dublin
River Shannon (Athlone)	Westmeath
River Shannon (Foynes)	Limerick
Skerries	Dublin
River Suir (Clonmel)	Tipperary
Tramore	Waterford
Littered
River Avoca (Arklow)	Wicklow
Balbriggan	Dublin
River Barrow (Carlow town)	Carlow
Bundoran	Sligo
Dingle	Kerry
Grand Canal Dock, Dublin	Dublin
Lahinch	Clare
River Shannon (Limerick UL)	Limerick
River Slaney (Wexford)	Wexford
Heavily littered
Bantry	Cork
River Boyne (Drogheda)	Louth
Clogher Head	Louth
River Shannon (Portumna)	Galway
River Suir (Waterford City)	Waterford
River Tolka (Annesley Bridge)	Dublin
Litter blackspots
Cork Harbour (Ballinacurra, Midleton)	Cork
Cork Harbour (Blackrock Castle)	Cork
Doolin Pier	Clare

 

 

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