The ten sites in Dundalk highlighted in IBAL litter report

The Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey results for Dundalk that were released yesterday, gave verdicts on ten different locations in the town.

While Dundalk's performance in the the An Taisce survey carried out on behalf of IBAL was disappointing, with the town ranking 39th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed, and being deemed “littered”, a number of areas in the town were described as “top-ranking sites”.

The An Taisce report for Dundalk gave verdicts on ten different locations in the town, with the top three receiving a Grade A, one a Grade B+, three a Grade B, one Grade C+, one Grade C, and the lowest, the Recycle Centre on Castletown Road, receiving a Grade D.

The verdicts on each of the ten, ranking from A to D with An Taisce's comments on each, are as follows:

Dundalk Train Station: Grade A

“This ‘olde’ style station presents very well with visitor information notice board, lovely wooden seating and all features in very good order.

“The car park surface was particularly fresh, creating a very positive first impression of the station. This was sustained throughout the station. Not only was it very well presented but it was also excellent with regards to litter.”

‘The Clump’ Park / Playground: Grade A

“This site of parkland, in a natural setting, presents very well and was very much deserving of the top litter grade.

“Very colourful signage at this playground indicates that it is a ‘Smoke Free’ & ‘Vape Free’ zone. All appeared in very good order e.g. paving, playground equipment, seating, signage etc.”

Red Barns Approach Road: Grade A. (from Point Road to junction with R172)

“A wide expanse of road / pavement, both of which presented very well. The grassy areas were well maintained. There was a virtual absence of litter throughout the area surveyed.”

N52 Approach Road: Grade B+. (from bridge to port)

“This tree-lined route generally presented well with good road surface and nice wide pathway.

“The route was generally clear of litter until the stretch between Lidl (litter not necessarily generated by Lidl) and the port – it was mostly plastic bottles, fast-food wrappers, crisp and sweet papers.”

Park Street: Grade B

“While the pavements were mostly clear of litter, it had either been dropped / swept / wind-blown on to the kerb / by the roadside.

“There was a wide variety of food related items, some plastic ties on poles and cigarette butts / vaping devices.”

Carrickmacross Approach Road: Grade B (from 50km/h sign to Applegreen)

“Much of the route presented well but it was let down by the very obvious litter presence at Oriel Park, where there didn’t appear to be any visible litter bins in the immediate area. There was a mix of food and alcohol related items.” 

The Demesne off Magnet Street: Grade B

“This is a lovely environment with mature trees, grassy area and summer bedding. However, the summer bedding has been cut back and litter has taken its place.

“Vaping devices were very much in evidence, particularly outside the Vape Shop. Food and alcohol items were also present, along with some broken glass.” 

Clanbrassil Street: Grade C+

“There have been great improvements in the overall presentation of Clanbrassil Street in terms of streetscape – the lovely wide paving, seating, ornamental trees, bicycle parking, street bins etc. looked great.

“Rather than the typical food related items, this time Clanbrassil Street was let down by the very obvious alcohol cans / bottles, cardboard boxes and vape related devices – this should be an easy fix and is hopefully something that won’t be allowed to develop.” 

Link Road between R132 to Bridge Street: Grade C

“There didn’t appear to be any visible name to this site and a lack of other indicating factors / litter bins / dog fouling signage etc.

“The most obvious litter along this road was alcohol related (both cans and bottles), combined with vaping devices. Cigarette butts and other food related items were also very much in evidence. The broken glass is hazardous.”

Recycle Centre on Castletown Road: Grade D

“This was by far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Dundalk, worse than previous IBAL surveys.

“While the immediate area around the three clothing units was lightly littered, it was the area behind it which presented very poorly – a mountain of clothing had been discarded, along with some cans and bottles.”