Communities celebrate Tidy Towns results

Published: Sun 7 Oct 2018, 9:00 AM

Local Tidy Towns groups have been poring over their reports in this year's Tidy Towns competition, the results of which were recently announced.

Terryglass attained the top score in Tipp this year with 336 points, closely followed by last year's national winner Birdhill (335), and Silvermines (329). There are gold medals for the Tidy Towns endeavours of Terryglass and Birdhill and a silver for Silvermines, while Nenagh and Roscrea both won bronze medals.

Nenagh improved its standing in the competition by four with an overall score this year of 315 points. Among other delights, the adjudicators admired the 120 hanging baskets and 30 railing baskets in the town centre on their visit over the summer. “Considering the size of Nenagh, we were pleasantly surprised to find that litter is not a problem,” they commented in their adjudication report.

The judges were also praising of the efforts of Roscrea Tidy Towns committee, supported by an “impressive” list of agencies, which this year reached 318 points in the competition, an improvement of five on 2017. They admired the presentation of the streetscape and historic buildings.

“In general, Roscrea was clean and tidy,” the judges reported of their visit.

The Terryglass committee of eight and 12 occasional volunteers were extolled for their cumulative efforts, increasing their mark by seven to 336 points. Overall Tidy Towns winner in 1983 and 1997, the Terryglass committee was congratulated on receiving a €98,000 grant for projects implemented this year.

“Private houses and cottages also look well, and many residents have planted trees, hedges and flowers in their gardens. It all adds up to a most attractive village and is an indication of great community spirit,” the judges commented of Terryglass.

Birdhill is now up to 335 points out of a total possible mark of 450 in the Tidy Towns competition, an improvement on three on the glory year of 2017. Acknowledging the many winning initiatives underway in the village, the adjudicators noted the implementation of a litter management plan and said “daily litter patrols must be very necessary because there is still a substantial volume of traffic passing through the village”.

Silvermines benefited from a second round adjudication, in which the judge noted that perhaps 15 years had passed since his last visit. “This time I was immediately aware of very significant changes, all for the better, which could not have been accomplished without intensive co-ordination among local organisations, including the school, and masterminded by the Silvermines Enhancement Group.”

The 'Mines score of 329 points represents a seven-point improvement on last year.

Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath was at the Helix in Dublin for the announcement of the Tidy Towns results. He congratulated all who participated in this year's competition, saying “the Tidy Towns competition is one of the truly great examples of community spirit in this country”.

POPULATION CATEGORY A
Terryglass 336
Birdhill       335
Killoscully 316
Lorrha        316
Kilbarron    315
Upperchurch 305
Carrig            296
Kilcommon    291
Toor               280
Rearcross      279
Capparoe       273
Ballinderry      268
Ballycommon 268
Ardcroney       257
Dromineer       246
Shallee            235
Ballinure          231
Aglish              204