Waterford was the country's cleanest city while Ennis, Roscommon and Kildare are Ireland's cleanest towns.
A survey by Irish Business Against Littter found improvements overall, with one part of Limerick being the only area considered 'seriously littered'.
The Taisce report stated:
"Waterford City retained its high standards of cleanliness, but was let down by a litter blackspot at the old Waterford Crystal site, once the pride and joy of the city. Anybody arriving into the city by road would have been greeted by top ranking routes in terms of litter and general presentation. The Train Station was particularly fresh and clean in appearance, but the exterior of the bus station was heavily littered. The People's Park wasn't just clear of litter but was freshly presented and maintained and is clearly respected by the users. Many of the city centre streets were in very good order e.g. Hanover Street, O'Connell Street, Barronstrand / Broad Street - they had been attractively laid out, some with seating, sculpture and ornamental trees. Waterford Institute of Technology also got the top litter grade."
"The majority of the residential areas within Ballybeg scored very well - bar one individual corner site at Clonard Park which has suffered long term abuse and neglect. Tesco was exceptionally fresh in appearance and Six Cross Roads Business Park was also top ranking. A site close to the Community Development Project (beside some allotments) has been used as a dumping ground for carpets - huge quantities of carpets were discarded."
In this survey of 25 towns and 15 city areas 88% were judged to be 'clean', with 40% 'cleaner than the European average'.
