This article is from page 2 of the 2013-09-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
MEMBERS of Ennis Tidy Town’s Committee were upset yesterday (Monday) by Irish Business Against Litter’s (IBAL) finding that the town was one of three in the country it deemed littered.
The anti-litter league’s Dr Tom Cavanagh said however that IBAL was not worried about Ennis being third from the bottom of the league as it had been a good town in the past and he was confident it would be good in the future.
“I am not worried about them,” he said of the three towns deemed lit- ter.
The people of Ennis, and especially those who have dedicated their lives to the tidy town’s organisation, can take some solace in recent history.
In 2005, just a week before the county town won the national Tidy Town’s competition, it also received a damming report from IBAL.
For now however, there is a lot of disappointment at the news the town had dropped 13 places since last year on the litter league.
Ennis town councillor Mary Howard (FG), who is a volunteer with the local Tidy Towns, said members were very upset as they called each other following the news.
“One woman who goes out six nights a week [to pick up litter] was particularly upset. People are putting in a huge effort like this,” she said.
“A huge effort has been put into painting railings and other work this year,” she added.
As part of the litter inspection carried out by IBAL, litter inspectors surveyed recycling facilities, hotels and sports facilities in the towns and cities concerned.
IBAL expressed ‘disappointment’ that seven in 10 recycling centres nationwide were littered, and a number were litter black spots, including those in Ennis.
“These are typically managed by local authorities so it is disappointing that so many of them are unclean, especially as their importance is rising. We recognise the potential for these facilities to attract litter, a threat which some authorities have fended off effectively by installing CCTV,” explained Dr Cavanagh. Inspectors praised the facility in Dundalk as being ‘in a league of its own’.”
Over three-quarters of hotel grounds surveyed were free of litter, but a small number, including Treacy’s West County in Ennis were judged to be seriously littered, due to litter in the areas surrounding them.