Great news for Fermoy.

There is reason to celebrate and reason to be disappointed following the publication of Irish Business Against Litter’s (IBAL) latest national survey.

The good news is that Fermoy was one of only eight Irish towns, of the 40 towns surveyed, to be cleaner than European norms. However, the survey, which is carried out by An Taisce, found that Cork city centre, Mahon and Cork’s northside were three of the worst-rated areas in Ireland for cleanliness.

Both areas were categorised as “Littered,” which is the third-worst category following “Heavily Littered” and “Litter Blackspot.” Only one place in Ireland received that designation, Dublin’s North Inner City.

Overall, 68% of towns surveyed showed an improvement upon last year’s result. The full results of the survey can be seen below.

Conor Horgan of IBAL said: “For cities, this survey paints a bleak picture,” comments Conor Horgan. “Litter levels have worsened to a level we have not seen in the past ten years. Now that we have emerged from lockdown, we cannot use it as an excuse for high levels of litter.

“As we invest in promotional drives and build city hotels in anticipation of more visitors, we need to be mindful of the littered environment we are presenting to them.”

Horgan pointed to an increase in Covid-related litter as one of the main problems currently facing local areas. However, other types of litter have fallen.

“The need for PPE has not abated – unfortunately we’re still using disposable masks, we’re still dropping them at an alarming rate and they are still not being picked up.” Conversely, the survey showed a 20% drop in coffee cup litter. There was also a steep fall-off in cigarette butts.