Fingal County Council welcomes excellent results for Blanchardstown in latest IBAL report.

There was excellent news for Dublin 15 and Fingal in the latest IBAL report with Blanchardstown ranked 6th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed with the highest ranking Cleaner than European Norms.  That was the finding of the business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), whose latest survey of 40 towns and cities shows Naas as the cleanest town.  Dublin. Dublin Airport Environs was ranked 24th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed and Clean to European Norms.

The very positive report on Blanchardstown found that ‘The three approach routes surveyed got the top litter grade and this high standard was sustained for almost all of the remaining sites surveyed.  Other examples included the residential area of Blasket Square, Waterville Park (this public park was in great condition) and the Main Street in Blanchardstown – the latter was characterised by some lovely features e.g. colourful flower beds, ‘olde’ style streetlamps, large planter boxes and tree planting.’   

An example of one of the sites surveyed, Waterville Road was described as ‘A freshly presented, tree-lined, approach route into Blanchardstown, creating a positive first impression of the area. It was spotless throughout. This high standard was maintained for the majority of the remaining sites surveyed.’  The findings of the survey in relation to Waterville Park ‘‘a lovely park environment with large pond / paving / grass area etc.’ concluded ‘clearly it is a very well maintained and respected space – a worthy top-ranking site.’   The report praised the quality of maintenance of roads and pavements, grass verges and signage and planting in the Blanchardstown area which led to the positive overall impression created.  

Speaking about the results Mayor of Fingal Cllr Brian McDonagh said: “I am delighted to see the very positive report on the Blanchardstown area in these IBAL results and would like to say well done to all the Fingal County Council staff whose work is recognised here. Well done also to the community and Tidy Towns volunteers who we see out every day working in their communities and we all need to do our bit by disposing of litter correctly.”

Chief Executive of Fingal AnnMarie Farrelly said: “I would like to congratulate our Operations teams on their fantastic work which has led to these excellent results in the latest IBAL survey, in the Airport environs and particularly in the Blanchardstown area.  I would also like to thank the local community and Tidy Towns groups who work with us to enhance our county and would appeal to everyone when visiting our parks, beaches and open spaces to bring litter home or use the bins provided.”

The overall report 2024 saw a further fall in the number of sites within cities and towns that were deemed ‘litter blackspots’, which suggests that local authorities were generally more effective in tackling urban dumping and in addressing sites that IBAL had previously highlighted.

The survey also revealed a near-50% fall in the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans in the 500+ sites monitored since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced last year. For the full report see http://ibal.ie/

The Council continues to urge people not to litter and to report incidents of dumping to [email protected] and to move away from single use plastics and opt for reusable alternatives and to recycle clothes, bottles, cans etc in the many Bring Banks around the County. Electric equipment (WEEE) can be recycled for free in any retail outlet or in one of the two recycling centres operated by Fingal County Council, one in Coolmine Dublin 15 and one in Estuary Swords. See the Fingal County Council website www.Fingal.ie for more information.