The first post-lockdown survey by Irish Business Against Litter has resulted in Sligo losing its Clean status and falling to 28th position in the ranking of 40 areas nationwide.
The survey found that while the majority of towns have cleaned up over the past 12 months, litter in main cities has detreated to levels not seen in ten years
The An Taisce report for Sligo stated three heavily littered sites resulted in Sligo losing its Clean status.
Two of the approach roads (N15 Donegal and R286 Dromahair) were both very it said ‘were deserving of the top litter grade, while it also identified O’Boyle Park the home of Glenview Football Club / and O’Connell Street as positive examples which had their grades brought down by dumping of rubbish.
The report concluded by stating that by far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Sligo was the University Hospital grounds an area that was flagged by IBAL in 2020.
2021 IBAL ANTI-LITTER LEAGUE – ROUND 1
| Position | Area | Classification |
| 1 | Portlaoise | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 2 | Leixlip | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 3 | Ennis | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 4 | Arklow | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 5 | Dun Laoghaire | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 6 | Kilkenny | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 7 | Fermoy | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 8 | Naas | Cleaner than European Norms |
| 9 | Carlow | Clean to European Norms |
| 10 | Longford | Clean to European Norms |
| 11 | Waterford City Centre | Clean to European Norms |
| 12 | Tullamore | Clean to European Norms |
| 13 | Ballina | Clean to European Norms |
| 14 | Wexford | Clean to European Norms |
| 15 | Athlone | Clean to European Norms |
| 16 | Tipperary | Clean to European Norms |
| 17 | Tallaght | Clean to European Norms |
| 18 | Clonmel | Clean to European Norms |
| 19 | Galway City Centre | Clean to European Norms |
| 20 | Monaghan | Clean to European Norms |
| 21 | Buncrana | Clean to European Norms |
| 22 | Killarney | Clean to European Norms |
| 23 | Tralee | Clean to European Norms |
| 24 | Roscommon | Moderately littered |
| 25 | Mullingar | Moderately littered |
| 26 | Cavan | Moderately littered |
| 27 | Dundalk | Moderately littered |
| 28 | Sligo | Moderately littered |
| 29 | Navan | Moderately littered |
| 30 | Limerick City Centre | Littered |
| 31 | Cork City Centre | Littered |
| 32 | Mahon - Cork City | Littered |
| 33 | Cork Northside | Littered |
| 34 | Ballymun | Littered |
| 35 | Galway Inner City - Ballybane | Littered |
| 36 | Dublin City Centre | Littered |
| 37 | Waterford City - Ballybeg | Littered |
| 38 | Drogheda | Heavily littered |
| 39 | LImerick City South - Galvone | Heavily littered |
| 40 | Dublin North Inner City | Litter blackspot |
The An Taisce report for Sligo stated:
Three heavily littered sites resulted in Sligo losing its Clean status. Two of the approach roads (N15 Donegal and R286 Dromahair) were both very much deserving of the top litter grade, as was Glenview Football Club / O’Boyle Park and O’Connell Street – the latter was particularly well presented and maintained with all aspects in very good condition e.g., paving, street bins, hanging baskets, ornamental trees etc.. Two sites were brought down not by casual litter but dumping of rubbish - Recycle Centre, Connaughton Road and the residential area of City View. By far the most heavily littered site surveyed in Sligo was the University Hospital grounds – it didn’t get into this state overnight - it was flagged in IBAL 2020. Heavy levels of all manner of food related litter, used nappies and other miscellaneous items were found throughout the grounds, a mix of recent and long-lie, the latter indicating a lack of thorough cleaning for quite some time.
