Air quality across four towns in the Shannonside region have been ranked as 'good' in the EPA's annual report.
The readings were taken at stations in Roscommon, Carrick-on-Shannon, Longford and Athlone.
Latest data from the Environmental Protection Agency reveals three out of four towns locally received the highest rating possible.
Roscommon, Carrick-on-Shannon and the station at Athlone Library all received a one rating.
While the air in Longford is also considered to be of good quality it ranked a two rating.
This marks a huge improvement for the town having fallen into the poor air quality category just 12 months ago.
Although Ireland is meeting EU targets it's falling below new health-based guidelines from the World Health Organisation.
Senior Scientific Officer with the EPA Patrick Kenny says there are localised issues which negatively impact on the air we breathe.
''In 2021, air quality in Ireland was generally good. However, there were concerning localised issues. We didn't exceed any of the legal limit values set by the EU, but right across the country at the majority of our monitoring stations we did not meet the new tighter guideline value set by the World Health Organization.''
