Kilkenny ranked in top ten in Irish Business Against Litter League

The final survey of 2021 by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) shows Kilkenny once again ‘Cleaner than European Norms’, in 9th place in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.

Naas finished ahead of Portlaoise and Ennis to record its first win in the annual rankings. There was a slight fall in the number of clean towns nationwide, to 22.

The An Taisce report for Kilkenny stated: 

A recent winner and consistently high performing town, Kilkenny continues to score very well with eight out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade.  Great care has been taken with the presentation and maintenance of the Main Street.  Friar’s Bridge has been lovingly preserved and maintained.  Both approach roads and the train station create a positive first impression for anyone arriving by car or train.  One site does require attention – a derelict Site beside Rothe House – while the building has fallen into a state of disrepair it was the accumulation of bags of discarded rubbish beside the bins which brought down the litter grade.

Kilkenny Train Station received  the top litter grade. The judges stated that the overall impression was a positive one with all aspects of the area surveyed in good condition including the car parking area, paving, railings and signage. The report also stated that there was an exceptionally freshly presented interior train environment. The waiting area was in good condition with substantial bin unit beside the white seating and the plants were a lovely feature.

The Market Cross Shopping Centre also fared well in the report with judges remarking that it  was 'very much deserving
of the top litter grade'.

"The large planter boxes looked well, with the paving and shop-fronts in good condition. It was spotless throughout," they stated in their report.

However along the banks of the River Nore, which is usually a top-ranking site, there was a slight drop in the grade due to the food related litter (particularly fast-food items) and face masks. 

Chairperson of Keep Kilkenny Beautiful, Pat Boyd said he was delighted with how Kilkenny fared in the report.
“You always want to be first but that is not always possible. We have an extremely busy December in Kilkenny with Yulefest, which was a great success, and saw thousands of people coming into the city centre with a lot of footfall. The only thing that let us down was a premises close to Rothe House on Parliamen t Street but that is out of our control,” he added.