Gorey is among the cleanest towns in the country.
That’s according to the final litter survey of 2022 by business group Irish Business Against Litter. Gorey rose to 10th spot in the ranking of 40 towns and cities nationwide.
Three quarters of Ireland’s cities and towns were deemed ‘clean’ in 2022, compared to just over half in the previous year. Naas was again top of the rankings.
An Taisce conducted the survey on behalf of IBAL. Its report for Gorey stated:
“A very strong performance by Gorey with eight out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade. These included the approach roads, many of which were adorned with wonderful planting at various roundabouts, creating a positive first impression of the town. The Main Street is typically a very good site – things were no different this time around. Gorey Town Park was looking wonderful and Gorey Civic Centre was excellent in terms of presentation and maintenance. The Bring Facility at Tesco remains the only heavily littered site in Gorey.”
Cleanliness levels nationwide improved by 6% in 2022, with Naas pipping Kilkenny and Maynooth in the rankings. For the third year in succession, Waterford was the cleanest city, ahead of Galway. Urban areas improved by 12%, yet they continue to occupy the lower positions in the IBAL rankings.
“The results reflect a pattern of improvement since the peak of the Covid pandemic, when litter levels soared, especially in cities,” said IBAL’s Conor Horgan. “In particular we are seeing local authorities concentrate their efforts on ridding areas of heavily littered sites. We have no reason to believe this improvement will not be sustained. Cleanliness is a virtuous circle: clean streets beget clean streets, inspiring a pride and consciousness of the environment among people.”
