Carlow slips down litter league again

THE in-store deposit return scheme at Lidl on Tullow Road was the only ‘completely spotless’ site in Carlow town, according to the latest Irish Businesses Against Litter (IBAL) survey.

Carlow was ranked 35th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed by An Taisce for the anti-litter business group, a drop of six places since 2024. The group explained its low ranking and ‘moderately littered’ status by the fact that just one site received an A grade. However, “one would expect a town with just one top ranking site to fare worse in the league,” the group noted.

The two most heavily-littered sites were Carlow Train Station and Oakley Park estate roundabout on Staplestown Road, which received C+ grades. The group noted that while the skip had been removed from the train station and the car park looked much cleaner, there was still a heavy presence of discarded food and miscellaneous items. It observed that the shrubbery was still full of litter and the presence of graffiti.

On Staplestown Road, the group found “a huge variety of litter”, particularly at the closed petrol station.

The Mr Price car park was moderately littered, an overall improvement from previous IBAL surveys.

Tullow Street was close to receiving the top grade, with the group noting that “clearly a careful eye is kept on various boarded-up and closed down premises as there was no litter directly associated with them”. 

It praised the fresh presentation of paving, seating, bollards and planter boxes, but highlighted dumped alcohol bottles, sweet wrappers and chewing gum that remained.

Similarly, Oakley Park estate needed just “a little extra effort” to remove moss growth from the footpaths.

The bottle bank at the town hall car park was “much improved”, but graffiti “riddled” the signage and alcohol bottles, sweet wrappers and dog fouling bags were found nearby.

A “pronounced dog fouling presence” on the Barrow Track and River Barrow walk distracted from the lovely signage and wooden seating. It recommended the provision of dog fouling notices, audio recording and facilities.

Lidl car park was let down by litter in the surrounding shrubbery and planted area. Elsewhere, on Tullow Road, litter levels varied, with increased amounts towards the junction with L1025.

Coilín O’Reilly, CEO of Carlow Co Council, said the difficulty is that the IBAL survey is done over half a day, twice a year. “I would judge the cleanliness on what I see on a daily basis. I was walking around Carlow this morning and it looked clean,” he said.

Nationally, no town or city was judged to be “seriously littered” and the number of towns deemed clean rose to 28. Sligo was awarded first place in the rankings. Coffee cups and disposable vapes continue to plague the streets of all towns and cities.