Tidy Towns set good example

TOWNS and villages across the south-east who excelled in this year’s Tidy Towns Competition have been hailed as a shining example to others.

Any town or village with the necessary drive, enthusiasm and initiative could also set its sights on achieving such an award, according to Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Batt O’Keeffe.

At a ceremony in Lismore Castle last night, he presented awards to tireless voluntary groups from Waterford, Carlow, Tipperary South, Wexford and Kilkenny, who had excelled in this year’s National Tidy Towns Competition.

Among those receiving their prizes were Lismore, which collected a Gold Medal, and was also crowned Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town. Other Gold Medal winners in the South East Region were Leighlinbridge and Kilkenny.

The minister said that standards were up right across the board in the South East this year.

“Success like this shows that, with continued application and effort, there is no reason why any town in the region - whether urban or rural, big or small - cannot set its sights on becoming Ireland’s Tidiest Town.”

The competition is organised by the Department of the Environment. SuperValu has sponsored the competition since 1992.