Tidy Towns: A few licks of paint can make the difference

A few more licks of paint, fewer weeds and a very few points were all that separated the winner of the National Tidy Towns competition from the tantalisingly close runners-up.

In Munster, six towns and villages came within five points of the overall winner, Kilkenny city, which clocked up 320 out of a possible 450.

Many others scored at least 300, showing there is plenty of competition to come in the awards. Top scorer in Munster was Emly, Co Tipperary, which scored 318 but missed out on a category award by the narrowest of margins to Clonegal, Co Carlow, which scored 319.