Bray

Trim and Tidy Towns In Ireland

Trim has been named Ireland’s cleanest town out of  53 towns and cities that entered a Litter League .

Swords came second with  Killarney in  third place, Cavan 4th and  Dun Laoghaire 5th

The rest of the Litter League results are listed below.

Paying Household Charge at Council Offices

According to the Household Charge website – people who don’t want to register or pay online should be able to get registration forms and make payments at their local County Council or City Council offices.

See more here about the new Household Charge which is payable by all home owners from Jan 2012.

We did a quick survey of most of the County Council and City Council websites on January 6th to see if they were providing any  information about the Household Charge.

We checked the council websites for  Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork,  Donegal, South County  Dublin, Dublin City , Fingal , County Galway, Galway City Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary,  Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow.
Some sites had no information about the Household Charge at all – Carlow , North Tipp, Offaly and Monaghan did not mention it -or if they did it was well hidden!

The majority of the Council websites had just a  link direct to the Household Charge website but no other info or mention of payment or forms being available.

Two  Councils  had a small bit of information about the charge and a link to the Householdcharge website . (Limerick County and Killarney).
Only three sites also had links to downloadable forms – Westmeath, Wicklow and Longford.

The only council that provided any useful information and confirmed that they were issuing forms and accepting payments was Fingal County Council.
Their website informs users that Household charge registration forms are available at all  Fingal County Council cash offices and reception desks in Swords & Blanchardstown, at all Fingal Libraries and at Citizens Information Centres. They also state that Registration forms can be returned  and payments can be made through Fingal County Council cash offices at Grove Rd, Blanchardstown or County Hall, Swords from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday. Completed forms will be forwarded by the Council to the Household Charge payment office. They even have  staff in a  Household Charge Team available on  01 890 6254

Well done Fingal County Council – !

Update Jan 9th - Dublin City Council now have information about accepting payments  – they state on their site that anyone who wants to pay Household Charge to Dublin City Council should go to :  Customer Services Centre ,Ground Floor Block 3 Civic Offices.

Cavan have added some information that Household Charge Payments will be accepted at the Rates office, Courthouse, Cavan.

Galway County Council now say that forms can be collected  from  Galway County Council, Aras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway.  Payments of Household Charge can be made bBy calling to your Local Authority office (By credit card/laser/cheque/bankdraft / or Cash)

Wexford County Council have confirmed that cash will be accepted in any of the following Wexford Local Authority Offices and together with your completed registration form will be forwarded to the Central Processing Unit in Dublin.

- Wexford County Council, Carricklawn, Wexford.

- Wexford Borough Council, Spawell Road, Wexford.

- New Ross Town Council, The Tholsel, New Ross

- Enniscorthy Town Council, Market Square, Enniscorthy.

- Gorey District Office, Civic Square, Gorey.

Unfinished Ghost Estates and the Household Charge

We are still waiting for the list of unfinished estates that will be exempt from the 2012 Household Charge.
The total number of estates is expected to be less than 1300. The Irish Independent seems to think it will be less than 300 estates.

It is important to note – that even if your house is in one of the infamous Unfinished Estates – you still need to register for the Household Charge and then claim the exemption. If you don’t register you could be fined.

If you live in a dwelling that is not permanently attached to the ground – i.e a boat or a caravan – you do not need to register it for the household tax.

More details about Household Charge and Exemptions Here

Bryan Ferry in Bray – Buy Tickets

Bryan Ferry – of Roxy Music fame will be in concert at Killruddery House near Bray in Country Wicklow this weekend . The concert is on Friday August 26th and is part of the Killruddery Festival.

Killruddery House & Gardens are situated 20 kms south of Dublin, just beyond Bray in Co. Wicklow. From the airport (Southbound) take the M1, M50 and N11.

1) From N11 take Bray/Greystones exit and follow signs for Greystones through two roundabouts. Drive 2 kms and entrance to Killruddery is at finger post signs.

2) From Bray Town take the Bray/Greystones road and follow signs from second roundabout at Bray Golf course and Ramada Woodland Court Hotel.

The Bryan Ferry concert in Killruddery will take place in the intimate and ambient open air gardens of the house which have a natural gradient and split level design lending to the intimacy of each event. Visitors to Killruddery can enjoy picnics, which are purchased on site, in the stunning gardens and explore the grounds in all their glory.

Top 15 Most Populated Towns in Ireland

The total population of Ireland at the 2006 census was 4.24 Million

Of those – 61% were living in towns or cities (2,574,313) and 39%  were living  in rural Ireland. (1,665,535)

Top 15  Population Figures of Irish Towns and Cities 2006 Census

1. Greater Dublin  1,045,769  24.7% of the population.

2. Cork City  190,384 (4.49%)

3. Limerick City 90,757 (2.14%)

4. Galway City 72,729 (1.72%)

5. Waterford City 49,213 (1.16%)

6. Drogheda 35,090 (0.83%)

7. Dundalk 35,085 (0.83%)

8. Swords 33,998 (0.8%)

9. Bray 31,901 (0.75%)

10. Navan 24,851 (0.59%)

11. Ennis 24,253 (0.57%)

12. Tralee 22,744 (0.54%)

13. Kilkenny 22,179 (0.52%)

14. Carlow 20,724 (0.49%)

15. Naas 20,044 ( 0.47%)

Fairtrade Towns in Ireland

The following Irish Towns had Fairtrade status at the end of 2009:

Athlone, Ballymun, Baltinglass, Bandon, Bantry, Belfast, Bray, Carlow, Cashel, Castlebar, Clonakilty, Cork, Dublin, Ennis, Galway, Greystones, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Leighlin, Limerick, Longford, Maynooth, Midleton, Mullingar, Newbridge, Newry, Portlaoise, Roscommon, Roscrea, Skibbereen, Sligo, Thurles,  Tralee, Tubbercurry, Waterford, Westport, Wexford

These towns in Ireland are working towards Fairtrade town status.

Antrim, Athy, Buncrana, Cahir, Carrick On Suir, Clones, Clonmel, Dun Laoghaire, Glanmire, Gort, Leixlip, Mallow, Naas, Nenagh, Schull, Temple Bar, Templemore, Tipperary, Trim, Tuam, Tullamore, Warrenpoint, and Newcastle West

IBAL Litter League Table 2010

IBAL – The Irish Business Against Litter – have released their latest results on the litter in  50 towns and cities in Ireland.

Wexford came out as the cleanest place out of the 50 places in the survey – with Tallaght coming out as the worst Litter Blackspot.
Of course – there could be towns cleaner than Wexford and just as dirty as Tallaght – but only towns with populations over 6000 are included.

Here is the full table of rankings  released in August 2010

1 Wexford Clean to European Norms

2 Longford Clean to European Norms

3 Blanchardstown Clean to European Norms

4 Drogheda Clean to European Norms

5 Carlow Clean to European Norms

6 Trim Clean to European Norms

7 Killarney Clean to European Norms

8 Clonmel Clean to European Norms

9 Ballincollig Clean to European Norms

10 Lucan Clean to European Norms

11 Sligo Clean to European Norms

12 Ennis Clean to European Norms

13 Fermoy Clean to European Norms

14 Dungarvan Clean to European Norms

15 Letterkenny Clean to European Norms

16 Kildare Clean to European Norms

17 Waterford City Clean to European Norms

18 Cavan Clean to European Norms

19 Dun Laoghaire Clean to European Norms

20 Dundalk Clean to European Norms

21 Bray Clean to European Norms

22 Kilkenny Clean to European Norms

23 Tullamore Clean to European Norms

24 Tralee Clean to European Norms

25 Ballinasloe Clean to European Norms

26 Arklow Clean to European Norms

27 Mallow Clean to European Norms

28 Galway City Moderately Littered

29 Dublin City Moderately Littered

30 Newcastlewest Moderately Littered

31 Enniscorthy Moderately Littered

32 Swords Moderately Littered

33 Tramore Moderately Littered

34 Roscommon Moderately Littered

35 Mullingar Moderately Littered

36 Cork City Moderately Littered

37 Youghal Moderately Littered

38 Cobh Moderately Littered

39 Navan Moderately Littered

40 Tuam Moderately Littered

41 Wicklow Moderately Littered

42 Ballina Moderately Littered

43 Nenagh Moderately Littered

44 Newbridge Littered

45 Castlebar Littered

46 New Ross Littered

47 Monaghan Littered

48 Athlone Littered

49 Limerick City Littered

50 Midleton Seriously Littered

51 Naas Seriously Littered

52 Portlaoise Litter Blackspot

53 Tallaght Litter Blackspot

Top 20 Secondary Schools in Ireland

According to the Sunday Times – these are the top 20 secondary schools in Ireland.
They base their results on the numbers of students gaining places in autumn 2008 and 2009 at one of the nine universities on the island of Ireland, main teacher training colleges, Royal College of Surgeons, National College of Art and Design or any English,Welsh or Scottish university or equivalent.

This may not be the best measure of school performance – but since the Irish government and the Irish teachers don’t want to publish exam results or carry out proper inspections with meaningful comparable results – these figures are all we have.

Top 20 Schools

1  Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin
2  Colaiste Iosagain, Booterstown, Co Dublin
3  Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co Limerick
4  Mount Anville Secondary School, Goatstown, Dublin 14 G
5  The Teresian School, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
6  Loreto College, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
7  Holy Child Secondary School, Killiney, Co Dublin G
8  Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ, Sth Circular Rd, Limerick G
9  Alexandra College, Milltown, Dublin 6
10  Scoil Mhuire, Sydney Place, Cork
11  Colaiste Eoin, Booterstown, Co Dublin B
12  Clongowes Wood College, Naas, Co Kildare B
13  Jesus&Mary Secondary School, Salthill, Galway G
14  Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Cork B
15  St Gerard’s, Bray, Co Wicklow M
16  Muckross Park College, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 G 7
17  Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, Co Tipperary G
18  Loreto High School, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 G
19  St Andrew’s College, Blackrock, Co Dublin M
20  St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School, Killiney,

Cleanest and Dirtiest Towns Ireland

Yet another litter survey by  IBAL  . The 2009 results were released today (Jan 4th 2010)  The  litter survey covers 60 towns with  over 6,000 population . Sites are graded by An Taisce according to international standards.

The cleanest town was Bray – whilst the two dirtiest were Limerick and Wicklow.

IBAL Anti Litter League Final Results 2009

1 Bray

2 Cavan

3 Drogheda

4 Clonmel

5 Longford

6 Wexford

7 Carlow

8 Sligo

9 Celbridge

10 Blanchardstown

11 Ballincollig

12 Dundalk

13 Mullingar

14 Trim

15 Portlaoise

16 Navan

17 Roscommon

18 Dún Laoghaire

19 Tramore

20 Shannon

21 Killarney

22 Leixlip

23 Dungarvan

24 Ballina

25 Castlebar

26 Kilkenny

27 Fermoy

28 Swords

29 Balbriggan

30 Newbridge

31 Newcastlewest

32 Midleton

33 Ashbourne

34 Thurles

35 Enniscorthy

36 Youghal

37 Monaghan

38 Lucan

39 Cobh

Moderately Littered

40 Waterford City

41 Buncrana

42 Tullamore

43 Arklow

44 Gorey

45 Galway

46 Ennis

47 Tuam

48 Tralee

49 New Ross

Littered

50 Cork City

51 Dublin City

52 Naas

53 Nenagh

Seriously Littered

54 Ballinasloe

55 Tallaght

56 Letterkenny

57 Athlone

58 Mallow

Litter Blackspots

59 Wicklow

60 Limerick City

Cleanest and Dirtiest Towns in Ireland

The  IBAL released details of its final 2008 anti-litter survey of 55 Irish towns and cities which show a record 36 towns are now classed as “litter free”.Ireland’s cleanest town will be announced today from the top five who head the current league table — Cavan, Dungarvan, Fermoy, Howth and Sligo.

Cobh in Co Cork was branded the country’s dirtiest town — firmly rooted to the bottom of the league table along with Tullamore and the seaside town of Bray with all three described as “seriously littered”.

Only 50 towns were included in this survey –