Keadue in clean sweep to take top prize

THE small Roscommon village of Keadue has been named as the 2003 winner of the annual Tidy Towns competition.

It is the second time in the history of the 46-year-old contest that the picturesque village located between Boyle and Arigna has won the coveted title. Keadue also won the top prize exactly 10 years ago.

It was chosen from almost 700 competitors in the annual competition, which is run by the Department of Environment and sponsored by SuperValu. It scored an impressive total of 270 points representing a mark of 90%.

The secretary of Keadue’s Tidy Towns committee, Padraig Noone, said the victory was certain to place the village firmly on the map.

Keadue, which has a population of around 150 people, is also known as the burial place of the famous blind harpist, O’Carolan. The village hosts an annual festival in honour of the bard which attracts hundreds of visitors to the area each year. “The secret of winning Tidy Towns is to get everyone in the community involved, especially younger children,” explained Mr Noone. “After that, it’s just down to hard work and keeping everything neat and tidy. As a result, we’ve been able to declare Keadue as a litter-free zone.”

The excitement at Keadue’s victory will continue for another few weeks as the village is also representing Ireland in the international floral festival, Entente Florale, which takes place in Slovenia later this month.

Junior Environment Minister, Pat “The Cope” Gallagher, presented representatives of Keadue’s Tidy Towns committee with their prize which included a cheque for €15,000 and a perpetual trophy at a special awards ceremony in Dublin Castle. He said that 2003 was another wonderful year for the competition with standards “higher than ever.”

He claimed the only real losers in the Tidy Towns were those areas which didn’t participate in the event. “Tidy Towns is a catalyst for community building. By creating a social context in which people can meet, by providing the mechanism by which people’s shared values can be expressed and setting goals for all to aim towards, it is the politics of community in action,” Mr Gallager said.

Other major prize winners included Kenmare which was named Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town and Westport, Co Mayo which claimed the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town.

Other towns and villages which also obtained Gold Medal Status for their performance in the competition were Eyeries and Rathbarry, Co Cork; Newtowncashel, Co Longford; Lismore, Co Waterford; Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Skerries and Malahide, Co Dublin; Kilkenny; Ennis, Co Clare; Killarney, Co Kerry and the 2002 Overall Winner, Castletown, Co Laois. The Dublin district of Bull Island had the dubious honour of obtaining the lowest mark of any area. Its score of 70 points or 23% is one of the lowest in the history of the competition.