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THERE was welcome news for Killarney during week as it was deemed tops of the class in a leading litter– but our county town was given a less glowing report card.

The study was carried out by the group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) which showed Killarney is among the top ten cleanest towns in Ireland.
Killarney finished eighth out of forty towns and cities surveys and was deemed “cleaner than European norms”.

The An Taisce report for Killarney stated: “Killarney improved to a top ten position at a time of year when it needs to show its best side to the many tourists visiting.” The survey gave nine out of the ten sites top marks.

There was bad news for our county town, as Tralee slipped to “moderately littered” in 33rd position in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.
IBAL placed Killarney in 12th position earlier this year so to jump four places is definitely a feather in our cap.

Below are the details of the judges' report.

College Street: Grade A Overall, College Street scored well with regard to litter. The footpath surfaces varied quite considerably – some parts of the paving were definitely much fresher than others.

Lewis Road: Grade A Road surface, signage and markings were in good order, with the footpaths in less good order – somewhat cracked and uneven.

Main Street: Grade A The Main Street was excellent. The very wide paving (with attractive slabs underfoot) creates a great sense of space.
Muckross House: Grade A The approach and area immediately surrounding the entrance to Muckross House was excellent.
New Street: Grade A Many of the buildings along this street were brightly painted. The paving was in good order. There were no major litter issues but cigarette butts were definitely a feature throughout.

Bottle Bank in Main Street car park: Grade A The bin units at this facility were fresh, with clear signage on the front of each one. There were some sticker notices indicating that the bottle bank is regularly monitored by CCTV.
Derelict Site at Park Road Commercial Park: Grade C This was quite a poor site in an otherwise well presented and maintained commercial park.

Jarvey Park: Grade A This is a very well managed green space in the centre of Killarney used by the ‘Jarveys’ as a ‘taxi’ area.

Approach from Skibbereen: Grade A The overall appearance of this road was a very good one.

Approach Road from Cork: Grade A This was a very good route, with a virtual absence of litter.