Elected councillors in Killarney and Kerry County Council have vowed to work together, to reverse the decline in relation to litter in the town.
They were reacting to the recent IBAL report, which ranked Killarney 28th, from 40 towns and cities across Ireland for their cleanliness.
The Irish Business Against Litter survey which is carried out by An Taisce, found that Killarney didn’t reach the heights of previous years, but held on to its clean status.
Speaking at the recent Killarney Municipal District meeting, Cathaoirleach of Killarney MD, Niall Kelleher, said it's clear from the report that there’s a litter issue in the town.
Cllr Kelleher said negatives found in the report, are issues which had already been raised in the chamber.
Cigarette butts on the main street and the bins in the Glebe car park were the two main issues that were discussed.
Independent councillor, Donal Grady, said it disgraceful to walk through Killarney at night and see bins overflowing along the streets. He acknowledged the work being done by the council, but said more needs to be done and more help is needed to address the issues.
Kerry Independent Alliance councillor, John O’ Donoghue, said the same issues come up years after years, however no one has come up with solutions for the problems.
Labour councillor, Marie Moloney, praised council staff in the town, but said they’re under severe pressure and more help is needed.
Cllr Moloney raised a motion calling for a progress update regarding rubbish bins in the Glebe car park.
In response Senior Executive Engineer at Kerry County Council, John Ahern, said on the ground the council are fully staffed, they have more employees than ever, while the council exceed expenditure for street cleaning in 2022 by 12 to 15% on that of 2021.
Mr Ahern said he would welcome a meeting with the IBAL judges and would like to find out when they inspected the town.
He said the council make a great effort to pick up cigarette butts and that the findings of the report didn’t reflect this.
Kerry County Council said it is assessing the bins situation at the Glebe Car Park and it will engage with businesses in advance of the 2023 season, in the context of criteria for the storage of bins, as outlined in the Waste Bye-Laws 2019.
In response to the findings of the report, Cllr Kelleher said - It’s hard, when you are an A student, to get a C, let’s get back to being an A student in Killarney.
He said the Municipal District won’t be found wanting in solving the problem, and that the local authority and council will work together in reversing the decline.
