Dundalk slips back down litter ranking

Dundalk has fallen nine places in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey, ranking 34th out of 40 towns and cities, and was deemed Moderately Littered by business group, IBAL.

While Clanbrassil Street, the Market Square, and the Court House, were praised as being “very much deserving of the top litter grade”, just three sites in the town were deemed clean, while the three sites, Gray's Lane and Old Toolfix premises, basements on Francis Street and the riverbank at Castletown Bridge seeing little improvement and according to IBAL, “remained stubbornly heavily littered / abused”.

Work by Dundalk Tidy Towns and Louth County Council over the past couple of years had seen the town climb to 25th place in the survey, and winning praise for its efforts, but IBAL said in its report that “it is disappointing to see Dundalk slip back after recent improvements”.

It added that “the presence of three heavily littered sites, with just three top ranking sites, will push a town towards the bottom of the IBAL league.

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Established in 1996 by businessman Dr Tom Cavanagh to promote a litter free environment, IBAL is an alliance of companies sharing a belief that continued economic prosperity - notably in the areas of tourism, food and direct foreign investment - is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment. An Taisce conducts the surveys on behalf of IBAL

The An Taisce report for Dundalk had high praise for the top ranking areas in the town, saying of the Market Square and Courthouse, that “this town centre environment, which included the Maid of Erin statue and the environs of the Courthouse was exceptionally freshly presented and maintained, with some lovely paving and streetscape features. There was a complete absence of litter throughout the area surveyed.”

Clanbrassil Street, which also received a Grade A, was described as “looking very well, with some lovely wooden seating, nice use of hanging baskets and attractive paving. It was excellent with regards to litter.”

Marshes Upper, the third site in Dundalk to receive a Grade A, was described as being a residential area that “was very much deserving of the top litter grade, with all elements in very good order. It was a template for a Grade A site – well done to all concerned.”

Looking at the three sites that were awarded a Grade C and dragged Dundalk down in the rankings, the An Taisce report for Gray's Lane and Old Toolfix premises said that “there has been little improvement at this site, with significant levels of a wide variety of litter, primarily food related. “Cars have parked between a temporary barrier fencing and the former Toolfix fencing – this area was heavily littered and weeded. The overall impression was a very poor one.”

With regards the riverbank at Castletown Bridge, the report said that “despite apparent recent clean up, there were loose food related items amongst the heavy leaf-fall along the pavements, along with a more obvious presence underneath the bridge.”

The basements at Francis Street was the third site that received a Grade C. The An Taisce report said that “there was a mix of both recent and ‘long-lie’ litter items, the latter indicating a lack of thorough cleaning for quite some time. Such an environment is only a magnet for further littering / dumping. Railings, weeds and window bars also presented poorly.”

Four other sites in the town were graded in the report, with the Castletown Approach Road and the N52 turn off on M1 from Dublin Approach both earning a Grade B+ and the Recycle / Bring Centre at Tesco Express and Park Street earning a Grade B.

The An Taisce report said of the Castletown Approach Road that, “much of this route presented well, but the road was let down by items which had been left outside Vincent de Paul premises / light litter at Maxol.

It said that the N52 turn off on M1 from Dublin Approach “was mixed in terms of litter, some parts were littered, others were clear of litter. The only visible issues were plastic bottles and sweet wrappers, most notably close to roundabout.”

With regards Park Street, the report said that “as well as casually discarded food related litter items, Park’s [sic] Street was also characterised by graffiti on the litter bins and electrical boxes and fly posting on street poles. Vape stickers were pronounced on some of the litter bins.”

It said of the Recycle / Bring Centre at Tesco Express, that “the recycle bin units were freshly presented / signage associated with the use of same was in good order.

“However, plastic bags had been ‘stuffed’ between the units and other items had been casually disposed of on the ground and between the rear of the units and the low wall. Broken glass is hazardous.”

Looking at the overall rankings in the report, Sligo finished atop the IBAL table for the first time in a study which showed that city areas in particular cleaned up in 2025. 

Drogheda also fell in the rankings, slipping to 29th and being deemed Moderately Littered. 

The number of towns deemed clean last year rose to 28, with Sligo finishing ahead of Leixlip, Westport and Monaghan. An Taisce, lauded the winning town for its consistently strong performance in recent years.

Waterford reclaimed its customary accolade of Ireland’s cleanest city, ahead of Galway. Cork City Centre was also clean. While urban areas still dominate the lower reaches of the rankings, 10 of the 13 surveyed showed an improvement in cleanliness in 2025.