It may have been an ill wind that brought so much rubbish on to the sea front at Bundoran last October when environment consultants declared the Co Donegal town the messiest in Ireland. But locals believe the survey report will do good by forcing the community to face up to the fact that it has a serious litter problem.
Few seemed surprised that the seaside resort was dubbed the dirtiest town in the State. Bundoran received just 27 points out of 100 in the Department of the Environment survey which was carried out in 26 locations and over 130 sites in the Republic. Glendalough in Co Wicklow and Littleton, Co Tipperary, were the tidiest towns, with 83 points each.
Yesterday, Ms Bernadette Doherty, who has been involved in the tidy town campaign in Bundoran for over 20 years, said she was angry, not at the results of the survey or the manner in which it was carried out, but at the community's indifference to the growing litter problem.
"Community spirit in the town is sadly lacking", she said. "Most people here don't seem to have any interest in it. People have joined the tidy towns committee but one by one they have dropped away. If only everyone would do their bit, it could be a lovely town.
I'm disappointed but not surprised with the survey. It had to come to this. Now I hope people will sit up and think about it, pull their weight. In some ways it is the best thing that could have happened.
Ms Anna Marie Fitzgerald can also understand why Bundoran was declared the messiest town in Ireland. "It's a big seaside resort but it only has the manpower and equipment of a small town. In the summer and at weekends people dispense rubbish anywhere and everywhere. We have a problem.
"Bundoran has a storm beach that takes in any rubbish on the sea that's nature. But a lot more could be done about the litter problem around the town," she says.
Ms Fitzgerald is a member of the local surf club, which regularly cleans up the beach area. But more resources are needed, she says.
Donegal's Man of the Year, county council chairman and local businessman, Mr Sean McEniff, is angry at the way the town has been portrayed.
Bundoran is one of the busiest resorts in Ireland, he explains. During the summer the population swells from 2,000 to some 25,000 and it is difficult to control the litter problem, but another survey has shown that 80 per cent of those visiting Bundoran have been there before, a fact which, he believes, shows how happy holiday makers are with the town.