Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim has been announced as the overall winner at this year’s SuperValu Tidy Towns competition, and also took home the honours in the small town category.
Rosscarbery in Cork was named Ireland’s Tidiest Village, while Dalkey in Co Dublin was awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town.
The Tidiest Large Urban Centre award went to Tralee in Co Kerry.
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary thanked the 30,000 volunteers who had served their communities in all weather conditions.
The SuperValu TidyTowns competition, organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, has been running since 1958 and has been sponsored by SuperValu since 1991.
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This year a total 929 towns participated, which is the highest number of entries received in the competition’s history.
Each entry is independently assessed by an appointed panel of adjudicators through an anonymous judging process conducted during June, July, and August.
Towns are evaluated under eight key criteria from community involvement and public spaces to sustainability, biodiversity and litter control with a total of 550 marks available.
Each year, over 220 prizes are awarded, with around €270,000 in main awards and €70,000 in special prizes given out.
Category Awards honour top performers across village, town, and urban centre classifications, culminating in the prestigious Ireland’s Tidiest Town title, with additional awards for island and Gaeltacht communities.
Minister hoping for another entry record next year
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary said he hoped the competition would grow from the record number of entries this year to over 1,000 next year.
He said the pride and energy shown by the 600 people who gathered at Croke Park today was being replicated across the country.
As well as keeping towns, villages and urban centres clean, he said there was now a focus on sustainability, biodiversity and community too.
Of the 30,000 volunteers, he said he had heard that around 20 per cent were volunteers who had come from abroad to live in Ireland.
“They’re giving up their skills, they’re giving up their talents to this fantastic comminity effort right around the country and that is integration,” he said.
Luke Hanlon, Managing Director of SuperValu that sponsors the competition said a quarter of volunteers are also under the age of 45, so after running for more than 60 year, the competitiion is inspiring generation after generation.
John Gaffey, the Chairperson of Carrick-On-Shannon Tidy Towns which won overall said the whole community had put in a lot of effort using floral displays, artists and innovative ideas to give them the edge.
In particular, the linear park which runs along the River Shannon has been a great attraction for visitors, he said.
He said everyone involved was “seriously delighted” and there would be big celebrations in the town tonight when the TidyTowns team returned from the announcement in Croke Park in Dublin, which had been watched by more volunteers on the live stream.
