The Garavogue River in Sligo town as well as Bundoran beach and Killybegs harbour in County Donegal have all been found to be ‘moderately littered’ in a new survey.
Meanwhile, the River Shannon at Carrick on Shannon in Leitrim has been described as ‘clean.’
These results are contained in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey.
But this is not the usual survey of cities, towns and villages.
Rather, it’s a look at the condition of coastal areas, beaches, harbours, rivers and their immediate environs, all of which were monitored by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce during the summer.
Of 42 areas across the country, only 1 in 6 were found to be ‘clean’ while 14% were described as ‘littered’ or ‘heavily littered.’
Among the ‘moderately littered’ areas was the Garavogue River that flows through the centre in Sligo town.
The IBAL survey states that much of the area along the Garavogue was in good order with nice planting and well-maintained green areas.
It said pathways, railings and stainless/stone seating were in very good condition and streets, footpaths were generally very clean.
However, it was water-based items that were mainly responsible for litter . . . and several areas were noted.
They included the river bank under the N4 bridge where there was, what was described as, a lot of water-based, long-lie litter, consisting mostly of bottles and cans.
Also, from Riverside to the bridge near The Glasshouse Hotel, there were large amounts of bottles and cans on the river bed, as well as a shopping trolley and a couple of street cones.
Conor Horgan, of IBAL, says it’s disappointing that some coastal areas and waterways continue to be littered like this.
However, Peter Tiernan, chairman of Sligo Towns, says if the survey been done just a short time later, the results would have been much different.
And Mr Tiernan says that wherever work still needs to be done along the river, the Tidy Towns Committee will not be found wanting:
