CLEANING UP: Volunteers from the Killarney Tidy Towns Meitheal group at Pike Hill, Killarney, on Monday evening. Picture: Eamonn Keogh

By Sean Moriarty

Killarney is one of the cleanest towns in Ireland after being named third cleanest out of 40 towns nationally in the latest Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey published this week.

Only Kilkenny and Athlone are deemed cleaner than Killarney, with Tralee jumping a massive 25 places to fifth.

The news was welcomed by the Killarney Looking Good Committee and Kerry County Council who said they were very pleased with the An Taisce report which stated that Killarney streetscapes were completely litter free.

“What sets Killarney and other top-ranking towns apart is not just the lack of litter but the overall presentation and maintenance of the town centre environment like paving, seating, bollards, planted areas, visitor information notice boards. Evidence of this was particularly noticeable along High Street, Plunkett Street and College Street,” the report stated.

“The fact that the town was judged Cleaner than European norms is a great tribute to the Council staff and to the very generous Looking Good and Meitheal volunteers who give so much of their time,” Councillor Michael Gleeson, from the Killarney Looking Good Committee, said.

“This is the result of a great co-operative spirit and it shows that Killarney cares deeply about the environment.”

Yvonne Quill, Chairperson of the Looking Good Committee added that a huge effort has again been put in by the volunteers who participate in the organised clean-ups along with those who maintain their own areas in their own time.

“An extra effort was put into the Tralee Road this year with 10 volunteers in recent weeks targeting Killarney to Farranfore on a Monday evening. It was particularly gratifying to see this getting Grade A status. We cannot be complacent though, litter and dumping is an ongoing battle that we have to keep fighting. We must continue to ensure that our town maintains the highest standards of cleanliness and welcome.”

Eileen O’Donoghue, Killarney Municipal District Council Officer congratulated all those involved in achieving such high standards.