The recent Irish Business Against Litter survey finds that Sligo Town is cleaner than European norms with eight out of ten sites examined getting the top litter grade.
The town came third in last year’s survey
The study, conducted by An Taisce on behalf of IBAL found that Sligo was once again cleaner than European norms in the study which was conducted in 40 towns in the country.
Eight out of ten of the sites examined in Sligo got the top litter grade and there were no heavily littered sites.
Elsewhere the recently introduced Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles has led to a reduction in the litter levels throughout the country.
And while there was a fall in the number of plastic bottles, they remain the third most prevalent form of litter on our streets.
The report has described its findings as ‘another excellent result for Sligo’ with no heavily littered sites and eight out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade.
These included all the approach roads, residential areas of Oaklawn, JFK/Rockwood Parade (riverwalk) Bring Facility at Borough Car Park on Connaughton Road and O’Connell Street, the latter was looking particularly well, much enhanced by attractive paving and wonderful on-street planters.
The Mall Car Park had been heavily littered since 2023, the overall impression improved somewhat this time around, but it still requires a more thorough to cleaning.
Pearse Road: Grade A. (From Sligo Park Hotel) a freshly presented route with a dedicated cycle path.
Road surface markings were in very good condition.
This route certainly creates a very positive first impression of Sligo town.
The seating area on the right- hand side was a nice feature.
Oak Lawn: Grade A. There was a complete absence of litter throughout the residential development and the rockery on the right-hand side was a lovely feature.
A series of flower boxes were awaiting planting and individual planted trees and communal green spaces were spotless.
JFK Rockwood Parade: Grade A.
A lovely town-centre riverwalk environment which has been well maintained.
Tree coverage provides shelter for those relaxing in the seating on a warm May morning.
Very good visitor information notices along JFK Parade.
There were a few separate incidents of graffiti on various surfaces.
Plant boxes along the river-side of the railings on Rockwood Parade were empty and awaiting planting and cigarette butts were noted at the base of seating.
Stephen Street: Grade B plus; Coming from the direction of the Glasshouse Hotel, any litter items to be seen were on the right- hand side.
The litter was not associated with the pavement works which were taking place.
The opposite side of the road with the statue was spotless.
Bring Facility, Borough Car Park, Connaughton Road: Grade A
A very neatly presented and maintained facility with the recycle bin units flush against the wall reducing the opportunity to stuff items to the rear.
As well as signage associated with the use of the facility there were HI (Healthy Ireland) indicating recommended alcohol units consumption per week/illustrating what a unit of alcohol is.
Separate signage illustrated various fast- food items and the calories associated with same.
O’Connell Street: Grade A; O’Connell Street was looking great, enhanced by lovely paving/colourful planter boxes and it was exceptionally clean with attractive directional signage, nice planting at the bridge end of O’Connell Street, with a plaque highlighting enhancement scheme.
Sligo Bus Station: Grade A; A freshly presented and well- maintained bus station environment.
It was great to see the opportunity to separate waste into recycling along with regular bins.
The overall impression was a very good one with regards to litter.
Rosses Point Approach Road: Grade A. (From Sligo town signage to main junction)
All appeared in good order on this approach route.
There was no obvious litter presence.
The Mall Car Park: Grade B.
While not as heavily littered as last year, there was still a litter presence around the perimeter of the car park including significant broken glass (looks like a smashed car window).
Machine operated sweepers can’t easily access these areas.
It’s more of a manual exercise,” the report stated.
N15 Derry Approach Road: Grade A.
A very freshly presented main route into Sligo.
Road surface/markings/signage/bicycle paths were all in very good condition.
Abundant mature/lush planting on either side of the road looked very well.
There was no visible litter throughout.
Reacting to the good news local businessman Finbarr Filan, who is involved with the Tidy Towns group said it was a very good result for Sligo.
He told The Sligo Champion: “If you are in the top ten you are cleaner than European norms and that is where we need to be at.
“It is a very good result and if you look at it there was a little bit of litter on Stephen Street and a little bit of litter in the car park pulled us down a bit.
“But when we started off on this journey about ten years ago Sligo was in the 30s.
“So, there has been a great transformation and when our volunteers go out at the weekend, they are collecting about half of the litter they used to collect.
“So, our town is so much cleaner, but the IBAL inspection is just a day in time.
“So, they could come, and the truck could have been broken the night before or something went wrong, and you could get a really bad result.
“But we have been consistently cleaner than the European norms and as longer as are that, it is great.
“The last time around we were number three and this time we are at number eight and in the top ten and it is just fantastic.”
He added: “I got involved through Sligo Tidy Towns and it is something that the Tidy Towns and the County Council work together on.
“There is very close co-operation between the Tidy Towns and the Council on this and that is key to our success.
“And our volunteers can go to areas that the Council can’t get to-like the quieter streets or over by Doorly Park, up Pearse Road, the main approach roads and we would help to look after those areas.
“And it is also down to the general public who put their rubbish in bins which is great as well.”
He added: “In fairness the Council have the road sweeper and mini- sweepers out and the Tidy Towns bought a gum removal machine, and it is working in partnership and any day you are in the top ten in anything in the country is a good day.
“It is even better as we are in the tourist season and people comment on how clean our town is and that is fantastic.
“But it is a journey we have come on, but we could have one bad day and we could tumble to 20th as that is why I don’t get too excited about our ranking because it would be very easy for you to have a bad day.
“The Tidy Towns Competition is based on what you have done over the year while IBAL is just on a given day when an inspector comes to your town, and they write down what they see.
“So, if you happen to have a bad day you could end up with a terrible result and that would not be a true reflection on the town at all.
“But we are consistently in the top ten and that is because we are on top of the issue.
“But again, it is down to the Tidy Towns, the council and the volunteers who are all making it happen,” Mr Filan added.
Meanwhile Irish Business Against Litter spokesperson Conor Horgan said that although Sligo was placed eighth on this occasion as opposed to third overall last year-this year’s result was a very positive one.
He told The Sligo Champion: “Sligo finished in eighth spot this year a opposed to third place last year, but it is a still a great achievement if you are finishing in the top ten.
“One of the very positive things to emerge from the survey was that the cleanest towns like Sligo were getting cleaner.
“If you are in the top ten you are doing nearly everything right and I think it would be a misrepresentation to say that Sligo was coming down the charts.
“The town’s performance this time was just as good as last time.”
He added that while the Mall was a grade B area but was not as heavily littered as last year.
“So that was an improvement on last time out and Stephen Street was a Grade B plus which just fell short of Grade A.
“All the rest of the sites in Sligo were Grade A which is quite considerable achievement for Sligo.
“That is very encouraging for Sligo.”
“Generally, our study paints a much better picture than a few years ago with cleanliness levels definitely rising.
“The study reveals an overall improvement in litter levels and a decrease in cans and plastic bottles on our streets on foot of the new Deposit Return Scheme.
“There has been a healthy rise in towns like Sligo reaching the upper tier of cleanliness and a fall of 35 per cent in the number of towns branded “littered.”
