Community urged to continue Tidy Towns efforts

Ennis Tidy Towns presented over 162 awards to members of the local community in recognition of the huge community effort that resulted in another award-laden year in the national competition.

Last year, Ennis won Ireland’s Largest Urban Centre Award for the second year in succession, along with the Regional Award, a Gold Medal and the Gum Litter Award.
Chairman of the Ennis Tidy Towns Committee, Noel Crowley, expressed his gratitude to the Ennis public for their ongoing support and hard work in maintaining their areas to such high standards.
“We are fortunate in Ennis to have a community that will work together to ensure their town looks its best for all to enjoy. We need to continue to work hard to instil this sense of pride in our younger generation and show through example what is possible if everyone takes responsibility for their areas.”
Mr Crowley welcomed over 250 people representing residents, students, business and community groups to the annual local awards ceremony and stated that he hoped they would all spread the message that “we must all work together to build on the achievements to date and continue to enhance our town”.
He also recognised Ennis Town Council for their hard work and co-operation with Ennis Tidy Towns and thanked them for hosting the event in their civic building.
“2009 proved a challenging year for those working on the front line with adverse weather conditions and budget restrictions. However, through innovation, hard work and pure dedication, our town continues to look its best. This is credit to those who work behind the scenes,” stated Mr Crowley.
Ennis Mayor Frankie Neylon presented 62 awards to pupils from the Gaelscoil, Scoil Chriost Rí, Ennis National, Holy Family Senior, CBS Primary and Holy Family Junior School. The overall winner was Hannah Bugler from Holy Family Senior School.
A special class award went to Sarah McGowan’s class for their collage piece.
County manager, Tom Coughlan presented the Green Areas Awards, where the category winners included Clancy Park, The Green, Lifford, Pine Grove and Francis Street.
The overall winner was Pine Grove and special mention for the high standard of maintenance was given to the Tulla Road and the Galway Road.
The Best Kept Garden Awards were presented by town manager, Ger Dollard and the winner in this category was Teresa Lynch of 96 Clancy Park. Vincent McDermot won the medium garden section and Anne McCullagh received the award for the large garden category with the Bereaved Garden in Hermitage.
Thirty-four prizes for floral displays throughout the town were awarded to the business community.
Moroney’s Pub and Quinn’s Pub, Market Street; Ciaran’s Bar, Francis Street; O’Halloran’s Pub, High Street; Lucas Bar, Parnell Street; The Copper Jug, Lifford; Madden’s Furniture, Station Road; Seoidin; Chez Marie, Heaslips, Neylon’s, Mulqueen’s Florists, Mary Kelly Newsagent, Tom Mannion Travel, Pat McCarthy Shoes, Collins Jewellers, Brogan’s Bar and The Old Ground Hotel, all O’Connell Street; O’Connor’s Vegetable Shop, Market Street; Gerz Place Restaurant, Barrack Street and Feirin, Parnell Street all received awards of excellence.
A number of public buildings were also commended for their floral displays.
These included Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral, The Friary, Church of Ireland, CBS Primary, Fire Station, Garda Barracks, Bank of Ireland, National Irish Bank, Allied Irish Bank, ClareCare, Community Centre and The GPO.
Mr Crowley closed the event by issuing an invitation to everyone to get involved in 2010. He appealed to people to encourage their neighbours and friends to get involved in community clean-ups and help elderly neighbours in maintaining their properties, while he asked students to look at ways of minimising waste and in recycling.
Ennis Tidy Towns has launched their new website www.ennistidytowns.com and he invited people to visit the site to keep up to date on activities and events.