Residents from North Inner City of Dublin defend area after litter findings
Locals in the North Inner City of Dublin are defending their area after it was deemed "littered", according to the latest survey by Irish Business Against Litter.
The survey found that Tullamore is the cleanest town in Ireland while Galvone in Limerick is the dirtiest.
Parts of Cork and Dublin also fared badly in the results and the anti-litter group says socially disadvantaged areas often have litter problems.
The cleanest town in Ireland, Tullamore, is followed by the area around Dublin Airport and Leixlip in Kildare.
At the bottom end of the table lies Galvone in Limerick which is deemed "seriously littered", while Cork City North and Dublin’s North Inner City are labelled "littered".
Conor Horgan from IBAL says socially disadvantaged areas often fare badly in the litter leagues.
He said: "There might be a number of reasons for that. They are perhaps neglected by the local authority that, that's something we fight against.
"There may be an absence of a sense of community that would keep an area clean, but for whatever reason, these areas tend to be more littered than other areas."
Locals in Ballybough in Dublin’s North Inner City admit litter and illegal dumping can be a problem.
However, they are keen to defend their area and say it is only a small minority who are causing the mess.
One resident said: "It's very unfair. There are some lovely people around in this area, absolutely beautiful people."
Another resident said: "From Monday to Friday, the flats are lovely and clean, but Saturday and Sunday is like bomb city."
Independent Councillor Nial Ring says many locals have bigger issues going on in their lives than litter.
He said: "We've obviously had a lot of the gangland violence, etc. There is a sense of poverty in some places.
"The homeless situation doesn't help and noone can blame a homeless person that their priority is to get a roof over their head and not necessarily to put the cigarette into the bin."
IBAL notes the high cost of bin charges could be a reason why people are littering and illegal dumping.
Cllr Ring, along with other independents, is now calling for waste management to be taken from private companies and returned to the control of Dublin City Council.
The motion will be debated at the local authority’s monthly meeting this evening.
