Fermoy has been rated as one of the cleanest towns in Ireland in the latest Irish Business Against Litter Survey.
The north Cork town was ranked 7th, with Naas on top of the table.
However the survey shows that Mahon, Cork City centre and Cork's Northside are closer to the foot of the table, with the survey also showing the litter levels have risen slightly across the country, with PPE litter at its highest level since the pandemic began.
The An Taisce report for Fermoy stated:
A strong Tidy Towns presence is very evident in Fermoy and with it a concern and interest in litter. It is one of the few towns with notices reminding the public that dropping cigarette butts constitutes littering. The provision of cigarette butt / gum units on street poles and ‘compostable’ bin are initiatives which should be rolled out widely throughout the country. Seven out of ten sites got the top litter grade, with some of them deserving special mention. Fermoy Town Park was in superb condition, the Riverwalk was very much deserving of the top litter grade and Patrick Street was spotless. By far the most heavily littered site was the Mart Car Park – heavy levels of a wide variety of litter was trapped in low lying planting / weeds around the perimeter.
The An Taisce report for Cork City Centre stated:
There were just five top ranking sites out of a total of 25 surveyed in Cork City – this impacted the overall ranking. If some of the moderately littered sites could be improved, this would raise the city’s ranking significantly. Some sites which were noted in previous surveys have shown no or little improvement – examples included N20 Commons Road, Dyke Road and Kennedy Quay. Thomas Davis Street was one of the most heavily littered sites surveyed – a building site and No. 23 harboured heavy levels of a wide variety of litter. The other litter blackspot was Carmelite Place, Western Road. Sites showing some improvement included Sarsfield Road Roundabout, ‘Headways’ Carrigrohane Road and Wilton Road, though they were still moderately littered. The N40, J6 to J10 showed huge improvements, going from a seriously littered site to the top litter grade.
The An Taisce report for Mahon stated:
Mahon remains littered, with little change over the past 2 surveys, and a dearth of clean sites. Some improvement was noted at Ringmahon Road, though it was still moderately littered. The residential area of Lakelands Crescent harboured significant litter as did the R852 Approach and the Pedestrian link off Ringmahon Road to Aldi. By far the freshest and cleanest sites surveyed in Mahon were Mahon Retail Park and City Gate Park – both were excellent.
The An Taisce report for Cork Northside stated: Another disappointing result for Cork Northside with evidence of more litter than in previous surveys. There was only one A grade site, at Pope’s Quay which was litter-free despite being a very heavily trafficked area. The two D+ sites at Ballyvalone Road and Kilmore Road) require immediate intervention and cleaning. Discarded masks were more widespread in this survey than any previously. There was evidence of ongoing mechanical cleaning of road/street kerb margin during the survey; however due to die back of vegetation long lie litter is more evident. This is impacting grades and should be cleaned up now while exposed. This would greatly improve the overall cleanliness of the area.
