Dublin has been described as the “city that never sweeps” by one journalist who says he has never seen the capital in a worse state. 

Famously, the Dubliners sung that the city was a “dirty old town” but Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner said we should try not to take the song literally: 

“I’ve lived in Dublin for the last 18 years of my life and the last couple of years I’ve noticed a discernible decrease in the cleanliness, friendless, general state of the place,” he complained on The Hard Shoulder. 

He continued: 

“Glass - I’ve had to replace more tyres on my bike because of broken glass on the street. You’re just going past more piles of rubbish and you’re seeing manky pavements all over the place. 

“And that’s during the daytime. What you’re seeing at night time is even worse. 

“And then you pack it all together; you can’t get a taxi at night time anymore, Dublin’s a really expensive city to live in, it’s a really expensive city to come visit and if we’re trying to offer and compete with other cities, we’re not at the races at all.” 

It is a sentiment that Alice Leahy of the Alice Leahy Trust agrees with. After a recent jaunt through the city centre she was shocked by how unfriendly she found people: 

“Not one person smiled or said 'hello',” she recalled mournfully. 

“I found myself saying ‘Our city has lost its soul’ - it has. 

“And I think people who can’t afford to come to the city and we’re all about the tourism - but what about the people who are living and working here every day?”

Litter and rubbish pollution at the river liffey at the Grand Canal Docks in Dublin. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Just as importantly, there is far too much litter about the place - something she blames on thoughtless individuals: 

“I think the dirt is appalling but I think personal responsibility is crucial,” she added. 

“People just have their chips, they have their ice creams and their cans and they just throw them all over the place. 

“I think we need something drastic to happen. This is the first time in my life that I could not tell you who the current Lord Mayor of Dublin is. 

“I think that’s shocking because I think we should know who our Lord Mayor is, we should know who their role is, we should get rid of the spin and the jargon and get back to basics.”

Main image: Dalymount Lane in Phibsboro on Dublin's northside. Dublin City Council has called on members of the public to desist from dumping. Photo: RollingNews.ie