Latest news with #IrishBusinessAgainstLitter
Irish Independent
25-06-2025
- Irish Independent
Man arrested after a number of locations in Westport defaced with graffiti
Locations in Altamount Street, the urban greenway and the town centre were among those defaced between 11.30pm Monday June, 23, and 1.30am on Tuesday June 24. An anti-graffiti project delivered by Westport Tidy Towns and funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development was also defaced. Photos of the damage have circulated on social media and have been widely condemned, with local councillor Peter Flynn branding the culprits as 'brain dead idiots'. Speaking to the Irish Independent this morning (Wednesday), Cllr Flynn said similar smaller incidents of illicit graffiti have occurred in the west Mayo town in recent years, but 'nothing as bad as this'. The Westport Tidy Towns committee have won several national awards for the upkeep of the town. The Clew Bay town also scored favourably in a recent Irish Business Against Litter survey. Westport Tidy Towns have already undertaken work to remove the paint 'We will not be deterred by wonton vandalism,' Westport Tidy Towns said in a statement on Facebook. An Garda Síochána Mayo described the vandalism as 'deeply upsetting.' 'Westport is well known for its long and proud tradition of being involved in the Tidy Towns - this is due to the strong community spirit and voluntary efforts of local residents, businesses, and those working with Mayo County Council who together - make our town a beautiful and welcoming place to both live and visit.' Anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the locality between the hours of 11.30pm Monday June, 23, and 1.30am on Tuesday June 24 is asked to contact Westport Garda Station by phone or in person. Gardaí are currently examining CCTV footage as part of their investigation. They have asked anyone with dashcam or doorbell footage captured when the alleged criminal damage occurred to make it available to them. 'Our message is very clear- incidents of criminal damage and anti-social behaviour of this nature, will not be tolerated, and will be fully investigated.'
RTÉ News
18-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Naas named Ireland's Best Kept Town in countrywide competition
Naas in Co Kildare has been named Ireland's Best Kept Town, in a competition that spanned the breadth of the country. The town beat out competition from Carrigaline, Co Cork, Buncrana, Co Donegal and Derry, and received their award at a ceremony in Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, Dublin. Now in its 30th year, Ireland's Best Kept Town is a countrywide competition that evaluates the cleanliness and presentation of towns, including public facilities, the outward appearance of roads and buildings and the quality of local wildlife. Each year, the winners of the SuperValu TidyTowns competition compete against their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Amenity Council's Best Kept competition. Naas also took home the gong in the Large Urban Centre category. The town is enjoying a good news week it seems, as it was also named the cleanest town in Ireland by the Irish Business Against Litter association, a title it has won three times since 2020. Buncrana in Co Donegal was named Ireland's Best Kept Large Town, which comes after being named Donegal's tidiest town in 2024 for the third successive year. Both Rush, Co Dublin, and Comber, Co Down were nominated in that category. Donaghmore, Co Tyrone was crowned the winner of Ireland's Best Kept Village category, beating out competition from Eyeries, Co Cork, and Riverstown, Co Sligo. Royal Hillsborough, Co Down was named the winner of Ireland's Best Kept Small Town category, coming out on top against fellow nominees Carlingford, Co Louth, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, and Randalstown, Co Antrim. Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary, congratulated the winners of 2025 Competition, saying: "Now in its 30th year, Ireland's Best Kept Town Competition recognises the great pride people have in their own communities, both in Ireland and Northern Ireland". He added: "Investment in our communities through this wonderful competition reaps long-term rewards for all, as showcased by the winning groups here today. It is testament to how local volunteers take ownership of their local area and work to improve them, for now and into the future. "Being nominated for these awards is an achievement in itself. It is a recognition of the efforts made by volunteers and local communities in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition and the Best Kept competition in Northern Ireland."
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Naas named Ireland's Best Kept Town in all-island competition
Naas, Co Kildare, has been named Ireland's Best Kept Town, beating competition from Derry, Omagh in Co Tyrone, and Carrigaline in Co Cork in the large urban centre category. Towns and villages across the island were assessed on the level of public cleanliness and facilities, the outward appearance of roads and buildings and the quality of local wildlife. Earlier this week Naas was named the cleanest town in Ireland by the Irish Business Against Litter association, a title it has won three times since 2020. The survey, conducted by An Taisce, made reference to a 'spotless' Naas plaza and 'a much cared for' canal bank. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ireland's Best Kept Town competition, a cross-Border initiative between the Supervalu TidyTowns competition in the Republic and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council's Best Kept awards. READ MORE Buncrana, Co Donegal, was named the island's best kept large town, beating Rush, Co Dublin and Comber, Co Down. Royal Hillsborough, Co Down, won the small town category ahead of Carlingford, Co Louth; Bagenaldstown, Co Carlow; and Randalstown, Co Antrim. Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, was named the best kept village – Eyeries, Co Cork and Riverstown, Co Sligo were nominees in the category. Winners were announced today at a ceremony in Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, with Minister for Rural and Community Development Dara Calleary saying 'being nominated for these awards is an achievement in itself. It is a recognition of the efforts made by volunteers and local communities'. 'It is a testament to how local volunteers take ownership of their local areas and work to improve them,' he said. Doreen Muskett, chairperson of the Northern Ireland Amenity Council, said 'these competitions continue to demonstrate the great pride that people have in their communities, North and South, and the hard work that is carried out by volunteers'.
BreakingNews.ie
17-06-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Dublin City Council vows to end waste collection via plastic bag in next two years
Dublin City Council has vowed to end collection via plastic bin bags over the next 18 months to two years. Although the vast majority of households use bins to collect their waste, some parts of the inner city continue to use plastic bags. Advertisement The situation arises because many of the small terraced houses and apartments in the area lack sufficient room for bins. As a result, they have been exempted from the requirement to use them. This week, Irish Business Against Litter revealed that Dublin's north inner city is the most littered area nationwide. This has been attributed to the continued use of plastic bags for the collection of rubbish. Dublin City Council spokesperson, Derek Kelly, told Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday that all cities struggle with littering. 'It's not just the north inner city, there are other areas and other areas of the country that have similar issues,' he said. Advertisement 'What we need to be conscious of is, the public have to do their part too. 'The city council is putting significant resources into trying to improve the visual amenity of the city and tackle littering. 'We've recruited over 100 additional staff in the last 12 months to improve our operations. 'We're investing significant sums in a new, modern fleet which helps us wash and scrub over 27km a week of our city pavements - so, when people come into work in the morning, the city is as clean as it can be.' Advertisement Mr Kelly indicated that the city council does 'have a plan' to end the of plastic bags. However, he stressed it was not an 'easy task'. 'We are just ready to go on a pilot area off Grafton Street - there are 90 streets around Grafton Street,' he said. 'We have all the arrangements in place; we have two waste compactors that we placed at two strategic locations in that area. 'Customers of the private collectors will have a number of options for disposing of their waste. 'We do intend to move that throughout the city; we have an equally sized area in the north city, covering Henry Street, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street and the surrounds. 'Then we'll be moving further out into the suburbs and urban villages.' Mr Kelly insisted that the days of plastic bags on the streets of Dublin are coming to an end. 'We're all in agreement that the days of plastic bag presentation are ending,' he said. 'And it will be gone within the next 18 to 24 months.'
RTÉ News
16-06-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Areas in Dublin and Cork 'seriously littered' despite nationwide improvement
Areas in Dublin and Cork were two of the most littered in the country despite a nationwide improvement on last year, the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey shows. The new report revealed that the number of areas deemed littered or worse is at its lowest in five years. Cork city's northside and Dublin's north inner city both featured at the bottom of the rankings and were labelled as "seriously littered". Only two of the 25 sites surveyed in Dublin's north inner city area warranted a 'clean' grade - the lowest number in years. IBAL's Conor Horgan said: "Unfortunately litter was everywhere in the north inner city, in stark contrast to the city centre just a few streets away." He stressed the negative impact of waste collection by bags instead of bins as "greater than ever", with scavenging by gulls a persistent problem. "We need the council to come good on its intention to convert the entire city to bin collection services. "In addition, it is high time that appropriate legal changes were brought into effect to allow the council to pursue those responsible for littered basements, an age-old blight on our capital city," he added. Meanwhile, Dublin and Cork city centres were noted as being "clean for peak tourist season". According to the An Taisce report for Dublin city centre, "considerable improvements" were noted at sites previously deemed as heavily littered. These included sites on Middle Abbey Street, O'Connell Street, Nth. Frederick Street and beside the Jervis Luas. Dumping on Dominic Lane and a littered basement on Parnell Square prevented the capital from attaining a "clean" status. However, the environs of Dublin Airport, typically found to be clean, were this time found by the An Taisce inspectors to be "moderately littered". Naas was once again top of the ranking of 40 towns and cities, ahead of Ennis and Killarney. Overall, two-thirds of towns were clean, which was up on last year. The survey found the main streets of towns to be generally clean, as were heritage and amenity sites. Residential areas, bus and train stations and recycle facilities were most likely to be littered. The report also noted a fall-off in disposable vape litter, adding that the prevalence of coffee cups on our streets "remains stubbornly high". Plastic bottle and can litter are down 50% on previous levels one year on from the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. However, they were still found in 20% of the 500-plus sites surveyed across the country. "We hope that the scheme will see the disappearance of this litter, but statistics so far do not bear this out.
