The Covid-19 crisis has contributed to a rise in littering nationwide with north inner city Dublin judged to be the worst in the country.
This is according to a study from Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal) and An Taisce which revealed the number of “clean” towns across the country has dropped to its lowest level since 2007.
Dublin alongwith Galway and Limerick have all lost their “clean” status, with Ibal blaming the rise in littering due to an increase in dumping and people socialising outdoors.
North inner city Dublin was judged to be the worst area in the country, and was designated as “seriously littered”.
The area has been consistently ranked as one of the worst areas in Ireland in terms of littering in recent years.
Conor Horgan, a spokesman for Ibal, said:
“The rise in litter levels so far in 2020 is across the board.
“The Covid crisis has seen more dumping, more outdoor socialising, especially drinking, and personal protective equipment litter, but less cleaning by local authorities and less activity by volunteers like Tidy Towns,” he said.
“At the same time, households have been generating more litter during lockdown, and there has been a visible increase in drinking outdoors as pubs are closed.
“However, there was a reduction in cigarette butts, perhaps also a reflection of pubs and offices being closed.”