Clonmel misses out on a clean status rating in litter survey
Clonmel moves up the IBAL rankings
Clonmel has climbed the rankings in the latest litter survey by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) but has just missed out on securing clean status.
The litter survey shows Clonmel climbing from 36th to 28th in the ranking of 40 cities and towns, but just missing out on clean status. Sligo again topped the IBAL ranking, with Limerick City Centre the only area branded ‘littered’.
The survey said that O’Connell Street in Clonmel was looking well both in presentation and litter while the report also praised the Showgrounds Shopping Centre and commended the Mulcahy Park amenity.
The An Taisce report on Clonmel stated: “While there were five top ranking sites in Clonmel, the presence of three heavily littered ones brings down the overall ranking – these were the Bring Facility at West Gate Car Park, Dungarvan Approach Road and St Stephen's Grove – the former two were both heavily littered in 2025, with little change since then. O’Connell Street was looking very well, both in terms of presentation and litter. Showgrounds Shopping Centre was spotless and Mulcahy Park is a lovely park environment with walking paths / playground / sensory play area.”
No town or city occupied the “seriously littered” or “litter blackspot” categories at the foot of the IBAL table. Overall litter levels were on a par with last year, with 27 towns deemed clean.
“As the peak season for tourist visitors approaches, we have fewer littered areas than we’ve had at any time in the last 25 years,” commented IBAL’s Conor Horgan. Once again, the study showed a low number of very heavily littered sites among the 500-plus sites surveyed compared to previous years.
“The job’s not done, but across the country, local authorities appear to have upped their game when it comes to tackling persistently littered sites and dumping in our towns and cities,” he said.
Plastic bottle and can litter was found in 19% and 22% respectively of sites surveyed - the highest levels since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced.
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“If we had hoped that the DRS would see this litter disappear from our streets, it’s not happening,” says Conor Horgan. “15c or 25c does not appear enough to incentivise some people to return a bottle or can. That said, by reducing this litter by 50%-plus, the scheme’s impact on overall cleanliness levels is beyond dispute.”
The prevalence of coffee cups was at its highest level since 2023, making it one of the main sources of litter on our streets, behind sweet papers, fast food wrappers, plastic bags and cigarette butts.
Cllr Pat English, Mayor of Clonmel, said the town was moving in the right direction and he praised the Clonmel Tidy Town group and all the volunteers associated with the ongoing effort to Tidy up the town.