This year’s TidyTowns awards for the Midlands and East region were presented on Thursday, December 6 at a prize-giving ceremony in the Rustic Inn, Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford.
A total of four Laois towns and villages were named as winners in the 60th national Tidy Towns competition.
In the Laois county awards, Abbeyleix claimed first, while Castletown came second with ‘highly commended’ and Ballacolla placed third with the ‘commended’ status.
This means that Abbeyleix retained the gold medal for the fourth year in a row, while Portlaoise retained their silver medal.
Mountmellick Tidy Towns also received the Endeavour award in Laois for the biggest improvement from the previous year.
TidyTowns winners were presented with their awards by Minister of State for Rural Affairs and Natural Resources, Mr Sean Canney TD and Eoghan Jones, SuperValu Regional Manager Eoghan Jones.
Also joining the Minister on stage was Paddy Mathews of Fáilte Ireland.
At the ceremony, Minister Canney spoke of the recently announced grant scheme which will enable TidyTowns committees to apply for a grant of between €1,000 and €4,000.
Minister Canney encouraged committees to avail of the €1.4 million in grant funding recently announced by Minister Ring to assist committees in preparing for the 2019 competition.
“Generations of communities have volunteered with TidyTowns to make our country a place we can all be proud of.
“I have nothing but admiration for the volunteers here tonight and across the country and this grant scheme is recognition from the Government of the huge contribution made by committees to their community. “
Minister Canney added: “These awards are just a small reward for the efforts of so many volunteers who take pride in their home town and work tirelessly to make it a better place now and for future generations.
“This unselfish effort and the generosity displayed by these volunteers makes a huge difference in our communities.
We also recognise all the other TidyTowns groups not here today who are equally committed to improving their community year on year but have not achieved formal recognition in the competition this year.
“Well done to you all on the work you do and we hope to see you here with us next year.”
Interest in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition has been stronger than ever in recent years with a record 883 communities entering the competition in 2018.
The competition has been running since 1958 and is organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The competition has been sponsored by SuperValu since 1992.
