A litter survey of Ireland's coasts and inland waterways shows that many of the country's most littered areas have improved over the last year.
However, the Irish Business Against Litter survey shows that the majority of our beaches are falling short of clean status.
Portmarnock beach in north Co Dublin deteriorated to 'littered', status as did Dogs Bay in Galway.
Bundoran, Ballybunion, Skerries and Strandhill were among the beaches deemed to be 'moderately littered'.
Clean beaches included Killiney, Salthill and Tramore, while Brittas Bay in Wicklow and Curracloe in Wexford improved on last year.
The survey shows that for the first time since the coastal survey was introduced in 2017, no area was deemed a litter black spot.
Blackrock Castle in Cork Harbour, a blackspot in previous IBAL surveys, improved to littered, as did White Bay in Cork and the Tolka River at Annesley Bridge in Dublin.
There was a positive turnaround at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, previously 'heavily littered', which was judged ‘moderately littered’.
The survey found that cigarette butts, sweet wrappers, fast food wrapping and plastic bottles were the most prevalent types of litter along the coastline, with coffee cups present in almost half of the sites surveyed.
Disposable vapes were also found at one in seven locations.
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, an IBAL spokesperson described the most recent survey as a mixed picture.
Conor Hogan said local authorities are finally targeting the areas where the need is greater, but added it is disappointing that the majority of beaches are not deemed clean as they were quiet this summer.
He added that with the best will in the world bins will always be overflowing on a busy weekend but it is up to people not to let litter get on the ground.
Mr Hogan also said that while the issue of vapes came up during a town and city survey, it did so to a greater extent on beaches.
He added that IBAL believes they should be banned when there are alternatives such as refillable vapes but even so, each have harmful electronics, toxic waste and are difficult to dispose of.
Overall, he said Ireland was on the right track and hoped that even if there is a better summer next year weather wise, there will still be good news.
Results of IBAL Coastal Litter Survey 2023:
Clean To European Norms
- Bray seafront, Co Wicklow
- Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow
- Clogherhead beach, Co Louth
- Curracloe beach, Co Wexford
- Dún Laoghaire harbour, Co Dublin
- Dungarvan harbour, Co Waterford
- Killiney beach, Co Dublin
- Kilmore Quay harbour, Co Wexford
- Lough Rea (Loughrea), Co Galway
- Old Head beach, Co Mayo
- Salthill beach, Co Galway
- Tramore beach, Co Waterford
Moderately Littered
- Ballybunion beach, Co Kerry
- Bundoran beach, Co Donegal
- Dingle harbour, Co Kerry
- Grand Canal Dock, Dublin
- Keem beach, Co Mayo
- Killybegs harbour, Co Donegal
- Mountshannon (River Shannon), Co Clare
- Portmagee harbour, Co Kerry
- Skerries beach, Co Dublin
- Strandhill beach, Co Sligo
Littered
- Annesley Bridge (River Tolka), Dublin
- Ballinacurra, Co Cork
- Bantry harbour, Co Cork
- Castletownbere harbour, Co Cork
- Cork Harbour (Blackrock Castle), Co Cork
- Dog's Bay beach, Co Galway
- Doolin pier and harbour, Co Clare
- Kinsale harbour, Co Cork
- Lahinch beach, Co Clare
- Portmarnock beach, Co Dublin
- White Bay beach, Co Cork
