Tag Archives: Tidy Towns

THE national Tidy Towns competitions may be cancelled, but that hasn’t stopped the dedicated band of volunteers who have been keeping Ennis looking its best all year round. Just one of a number of initiatives underway locally has seen Ennis Tidy Towns join forces with the little ninjas of Ennis Coderdojo, asking them to develop Tidy Towns themed games and apps. The local Tidy Towns committee are looking forward to adjudicating what the youngsters come up with later this month. “If we don’t have actual Tidy Towns, we have virtual Tidy Towns,” smiles chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns Cormac McCarthy. He admits that there was disappointment in the community when it was announced this year’s contest would not be going ahead. The Ennis team, who have been hugely successful in the national contest, put in a “very strong submission” this year having worked right through the year. However, Cormac believes it was the right decision given the current Covid-19 crisis. …

ENNIS has been crowned Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre at this year’s national Tidy Towns competition. The county capital scored an impressive 345 points in the competition, just one point behind the overall winners of Ireland’s Tidiest Town, Glaslough in County Monaghan. Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre is just one of a number of awards that have been scooped by the Ennis entry. Among the prestigious awards won by the local committee of volunteers were a gold medal, regional award and the county award. While the Supervalu Schools Award was presented to entries from Ennis National School and Ennis Scouts.

THE Mayor of Ennis said the announcement that the county capital is Ireland’s Cleanest Town is “testament to the year-round effort” by volunteers, Ennis Tidy Towns Committee, Clare County Council and the business community. Councillor Paul Murphy said, “Ennis is a vibrant tourism town and a popular shopping destination, which benefits greatly from the collective efforts of residents, visitors, the local authority, businesses and voluntary groups to keeping the streets and public spaces free of litter. The greatest example of this work was seen during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann when the streets were kept clean, as more than 400,000 people visited the town,” he said. He added that the recent naming of Ennis as a Coach Friendly Destination and as winner of the Retail Excellence Ireland Friendliest Place Award is “a vote of confidence in the partnership approach adopted by Clare County Council, Ennis Chamber and the local community to developing and promoting the Clare county capital”. Meanwhile Minister of …

THE 2017 SuperValu TidyTowns awards for the South West and Mid-West region were presented at the Woodstock Hotel, Ennis on Friday. Minister of State, Pat Breen, and Niall O’Callaghan, community and sponsorship manager with Supervalu, pesented the awards. Also joining the Minister on stage was Siobhan King of Fáilte Ireland. Minister Breen, spoke of the recently announced scheme which will allow Supervalu TidyTowns committees to apply for a grant of between €1,000 and €4,000. He said, “I am delighted with the recently announced grant scheme that Supervalu TidyTowns committees can avail of. “Generations of people in 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 and this grant scheme is recognition from the Government of the huge contribution made by citizens in their own community. 2018 sees the 60th Anniversary of the Supervalu TidyTowns competition and this grant scheme is just part of the …

TIDY Towns groups from across the county will gather in Ennis next month. Clare County Council will host a Tidy Towns workshop on Saturday, November 4 from 10.30am to 1pm in the council chamber at Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis. The community training and awareness-raising workshop will feature a slideshow presentation, talk and local walk focusing on biodiversity and birdlife and how Clare’s Tidy Towns groups can achieve higher marks in the annual competition, as well help to protect birdlife in their local communities. Instruction will be given by experienced BirdWatch Ireland staff and local volunteers. Where there is local interest to erect nest boxes, guidance will be given on physical projects, involving the erection of Swift boxes and caller systems. BirdWatch Ireland will be outlining details of the Swift Conservation Project, which is aimed at reversing the decline in population numbers throughout Ireland. The recent Bird Atlas 2007-11 shows there has been a substantial loss in range …

Ennis has been named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre in the 59h annual National Tidy Towns Competition, while Kilrush has joined the counjty town in being awarded a Gold Medal in its category. The result was announced at the 2017 National SuperValu TidyTowns Awards Ceremony at the Helix in Dublin. Ennis was marked against strict adjudication criteria and beat off stiff competition from other large urban centres throughout the country. It’s the seventh time that Ennis has been designated Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre, having won the award in 2006, 2008 and 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Ennis was named overall winner of the ‘Gum Litter Task Force’ and ‘Can it’ awards, while the County Capital also picked up a County Award along with Kilrush and Mountshannon. Lisdoonvarna won an Endeavour Award and Bronze Medals were awarded to Quin, Ballynacally, Ballyvaughan and Tuamgraney. The other main competition winners are Birdhill, County Tipperary (Tidiest Village and overall winner), Westport, County Mayo (Tidiest Large Town), and Clonakilty, County …

ENNIS Tidy Towns has gone ‘wild’ about biodiversity. The local organisation launched its Wild About Ennis Biodiversity Plan for 2017- 2019 last Friday in the Gordon Drive Community Garden. Mayor of Ennis Ann Norton officially launched the plan with members of the local community in Cloughleigh, Chamber CE Scheme, who manage the Garden, Department of Social Protection, Ennis Chamber, Clare County Council and students from Cloughleigh Primary School in attendance. This community-led plan was developed with the support of local individuals and community groups through online questionnaires and two dedicated workshops. Ennis Tidy Towns also invited groups from throughout the county to assist with the development of the plan, thereby ensuring many of the ideas and skills learned during the process were distributed around the county. “We look forward to implementing this ambitious plan with the help of the local community as well as local stakeholders, including Clare County Council, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Inland Fisheries Ireland.It also …

Tidy Towns groups, development associations, community groups and residents associations accross the county have been invited to compete in the Clare in Bloom Competition 2017. The annual competition is a motivational mechanism for local groups to enhance the visual impact of their settlements by means of flower, tree and shrub planting. Cash prizes for the purpose of furthering projects in the local community will be awarded to category winners at Clare County Council’s awards ceremony in October. Sponsorship is this year being provided by ESB Moneypoint and Roche Ireland, with matching funding from the council. The award criteria for the competition include visual impact, range of planting, litter control and waste management, community involvement, energy initiatives and overall impression. The competition is based on three population categories. Category 1 caters for towns and villages with a population in excess of 700, Category 2 is for population centres of between 300 and 700 people and Category 3 features villages with a …