CORK city centre is now regarded as being exceptionally clean —  but is in stark contrast to other areas mainly north of the River Lee, according to the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) results.
The latest results  released today found that 76% of the 42 Irish towns and cities surveyed were deemed to be clean — a record percentage.
Cork city was described as moderately littered, with the city centre’s cleanliness being marred by the city’s approach roads, such as the Blarney approach road which was “heavily littered”.
Fermoy businessman and philanthropist Dr Tom Cavanagh, who is chairman of IBAL, said: “The IBAL League has seen the cleanliness of key destinations such as Cork improve greatly in recent years, but the routes by which they are accessed let them down.
“In some cases it’s the immediate approach roads, where the town and county councils are not working together, in others it’s major routes many miles from the town.
“Here we need more accountability from those charged with cleaning them – that means publishing schedules like we have in Northern Ireland. Cork’s city centre, which is now exceptionally clean, is in stark contrast to other areas, mainly north of the river.”
Dr Cavanagh said that the results overall were very encouraging and that it would only take certain steps to ensure a positive result for Cork the next time around.
“The overall result here is hugely positive, with 43% of our towns and cities cleaner than the European average – something we could not have dared to hope for just a few years back.
“Certain strategically important areas, particularly around Dublin and Cork, need to be tackled to complete the job, as the negative impression they leave risks undoing much of the good work elsewhere around the country,” he added.
Cork’s county  towns did themselves proud with Fermoy, Cobh and Youghal being described as ‘clean above European norms’.