Mixed bag for Dublin areas in coastal litter survey

Padraig Conlon 29 Jul 2021

While Dun Laoghaire and Portmarnock beach have been deemed Clean to European Norms’, Grand Canal Dock, Skerries and Killiney have fallen short in the latest litter survey of beaches and harbours by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).

The River Tolka at Annesley Bridge, meanwhile, has been branded ‘littered’ In all, 40% of 32 coastal areas surveyed countrywide were clean, but there was a rise in ‘littered’ or ‘heavily littered’ areas.

Beaches, harbours, rivers and their immediate environs were monitored by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce in June and July.

Clean beaches included Strandhill, Lahinch, Curracloe and Clogherhead. By contrast, Bundoran in Donegal, Keel in Mayo and Salthill and Dogs Bay in Galway were littered.

“Overall, the story is a positive one in that we’ve seen a welcome rise in the number of clean beaches and harbours compared to our study of 2 years ago,” said Conor Horgan of IBAL.

“This is especially encouraging given the number of people who are staycationing and availing of our coastal amenities this year. There is evidence that many local authorities have upped their game in terms of additional bins, facilities and signage.”

“However, at the bottom end of the table, we’ve seen many areas deteriorate from ‘moderately littered’ to ‘littered’.

“As well as local authorities, credit is due to growing number of Clean Coast volunteer groups, now 1,500-strong, who work so hard to keep our beaches free of litter. Their efforts are clearly bearing fruit,” adds Mr Horgan.

The most common forms of litter found by the assessors were cigarette butts, sweet wrappers, disposable masks and plastic bottles, with coffee cups also featuring strongly. Alcohol cans were found in almost half of all sites.

“The majority of these litter item are plastics, whose impact on the marine environment is a recognised source of global concern. Cigarette butts, for example, may appear harmless, but they are in effect a single-use plastic which poses a real danger to our sea life.” Research shows a single butt can contaminate up to 200 litres of water.

“We all need to realise that the implications of litter along our coasts go beyond tourism and recreation. It presents an existential threat to our planet.”

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