Ennis has dropped six places in the latest anti-litter league.
The county town, which was named the tidiest in the country earlier this year has retained Cleaner than European Norms status.
However, the latest survey by the Irish Business Against Litter group shows Ennis has fallen from 3rd to 9th in the ranking of 40 towns and cities.
However Ennis has retained its Cleaner than European Norms status, with seven out of ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade and no heavily littered sites.
The report by An Taisce states that all approach routes were top ranking, creating a positive first impression of the town.
Inspectors said this high standard was present at other sites, including Westpoint Retail Park, O’Connell Street and Ennis Recycle Facility.
They said this was particularly good in the case of the recycle facility, as they’re often very poorly maintained, and that there’s clearly great pride at this ‘managed’ facility.
Nationally, two-thirds of the 40 towns and cities surveyed were found to be clean, among them Naas, which retained its position atop the rankings, ahead of Letterkenny and Cavan.
While, overall litter levels showed a decrease on last year, with a dramatic fall of 50% in the number of sites within towns deemed to be ‘litter blackspots’.
