Rats in Portlaoise estate pull down 'Grade A' town in IBAL litter rankings

Two residential areas in Portlaoise hit by ongoing dumping, and even rats, have pulled it down in the new Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) rankings.

Once the lowest scorer, and later the highest ranked cleanest town in Ireland, Portlaoise is now right in the middle in IBAL scores released on June 16 2025, which place Naas at the top, and Dublin Inner City at the bottom.

Portlaoise is ranked 20th out of 40 towns and cities surveyed, listed as Clean to European Norms, a fall of three places from 2024.

There were plenty of Grade A results for Portlaoise, but the judges highlighted Carmody Way and Harpur's Lane as being "by far the most heavily littered sites".

"A very solid performance by Portlaoise with six out of the ten sites getting the top litter grade – these included the Main Street, Glass / Bottle Bank at Council Buildings and Pairc An Phobail – all were well presented and excellent with regards to litter. By far the most heavily littered sites were the residential area of Carmody Way and Harpur’s Lane & Environs – both need attention to prevent further deterioration".

Carmody Way was give a Grade C+. "This residential area was quite mixed in terms of overall presentation. Some parts were in good order; other parts were heavily littered / dumped upon – this was particularly obvious in some of the parking areas. This general area has been highlighted by local residents who have brought to our attention an on-going issue which has had local media coverage," the judges said, pointing to the recent Leinster Express / Laois Live report Portlaoise residents plead with Laois County Council to tackle rats

Harpur’s Lane and environs also got a Grade C+. "While the planter boxes and well maintained grassy areas presented well, there were loose litter items at the parking close to the youth centre and shops. However, the derelict site presented very poorly, fencing was broken and heavy levels of a wide variety of food related items were visible. Unless this site is addressed, it will likely deteriorate further. Cigarette butts and broken alcohol bottles were also present".

Top Grade A marks were awarded to many other Portlaoise areas, including the Main Street.

"Streetscape looked very well with good paving, lovely planter boxes, wooden seating and fresh looking traffic light box type art. Colourful signage on the Big Belly Street Bins indicates ‘A Town in a Garden’, with illustrations of greenery, the outdoors and cyclist. The overall impression with regards to litter was a virtual absence of same".

"The installation of cigarette butt unit by the Court House might help – certainly not unusual to find cigarette butts outside court buildings" the IBAL judges noted however.

The R445 Mountrath Approach Road won another Grade A.  "It creates a very welcoming impression of Portlaoise with neatly cut grass verges and bicycle / pathways freshly presented. Overall, there was a virtual absence of litter throughout".

The glass and bottle bank at the council offices was "an exceptionally freshly presented and maintained Bring Facility with a complete absence of litter. Bin units were in very good order and the layout of the units was such that there were no opportunity to ‘stuff’ items to the side / rear".

Pairc an Phobail on the Timahoe Road also got a Grade A.

"It’s fitting that this Green Flag for Parks got the top litter grade – well done to all concerned. One of the many signs at the entrance was the colourful anti-smoking ‘Clean Air Around Us’. One of the lovely features was the information about the wildlife and trees within the park".

They awarded double A's to Tesco for their Deposit Return facility and the carpark. "The overall presentation of this car park was excellent with a virtual absence of litter throughout. Cigarette butts did feature, not unusual in a car park".

Portlaoise Train Station got a Grade B. "The majority of this station presented well, but the car park to the rear harboured some food related litter, cigarette butts and bus / train tickets. The verge area needs attention, to prevent further build up. The ‘Maintained for Wildlife’ area appeared more neglected that maintained for same".

The "common land" in Mountain View square was also given a Grade B. "A nice nod to biodiversity was the mowing around
the perimeter of the large expanse of grass space – this generally indicates that the area isn’t being ignored in terms of maintenance, while at the same time, encouraging biodiversity. Mountain View Square was generally clear of litter but there were some food related items on the road leading to the primary school and Harpur’s Lane."

Vincent Booth is chair of Portlaoise Tidy Towns.

"We are happy with that score, it's a lot better than being at the bottom. We'd like to be up further," he said.

On the two poor scoring areas, Vincent is hopeful they will be tackled.

"There is a lot of work going on at Harpur's Lane where Centrepoint was. I think there is a planning application in for the derelict site. We work with residents and the council to rectify issues. 

"It is really disappointing about Carmody Way, we will target that now to rectify the problem, as we did before when we were bottom of the IBAL ratings. Some of the issues can be out of our hands but we will work with the council as much as we can," Vincent said.

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"Thanks to everybody who achieved the score of Clean to European Norms, it's to maintain that now and hopefully climb a bit," the Portlaoise Tidy Towns chair said.

Volunteers are welcome to come to Portlaoise Tidy Towns clean-ups, every Saturday at 9am from Allbooks and in summer every Wednesday as well at 6.15pm. Find them on Facebook and Instagram and see their website.

Portlaoise won the top IBAL ranking in 2021.  It is 14 years since the town was placed at the bottom of the rankings.