Eighth consecutive gold medal for Dundalk at Tidy Towns’ awards

Pictured at today’s awards ceremony in The Helix at DCU were Willie Duffy (Chairperson of Dundalk Tidy Towns),
Mary Capplis (Louth County Council) and Art Veerkamp (Parks & Environment Officer – Louth County Council)

Dundalk secured an eighth consecutive gold medal at today’s SuperValu Tidy Towns’ awards at The Helix in Dublin

Drogheda also picked up a gold medal at the event, with Letterkenny in Co Donegal named the overall winner.

Amongst the areas praised in Dundalk were the outdoor gym at the Navvy Bank and the Lisdoo and the Quay Street mural project. The County Museum and a number of local schools were also praised as well as local businesses including The Greenore Railway Saloon on Quay Street, Houstons on Clanbrassil Street, Michael Lynch Menswear on Clanbrassil Street, Toales on Crowe Street, Lins Take Away on Barrack Street and Eno’ and McGeough’s on Roden Place.

The judges pointed out that it was a pity to see the DK Interiors building, formerly Dearey’s, fall into such a “bad state of repair” though. The road surface on Chapel Street was criticised for being “rather rough” and broken in patches, with litter visible near to O’Carroll’s Pub. Chipped kerbs and graffiti at Wrightson’s Lane were also criticised, as well as parts of lower Jocelyn Street which had a “proliferation of cigarette butts plus a few cans and bottles.”

Cracked footpaths, over hanging wires, derelict properties and dated shop signage were all deemed a problem but there was praise for very little dog fouling and Dundalk Retail Park was also deemed to be “well managed”.

In terms of the estates there was good reports for Mulholland Avenue, Avondale Park, Meadow View, Belfry Drive, Belfry Crescent, Barton Park, Aisling Park and Cedarwood Park.

Muirhevnamor also came in for praise with a Sunday World report which described it as the most problematic estate in the country deemed “a most unjustified depiction” by the adjudicator.

There was also good news for Blackrock, which picked up a Climate Change Award and for Dromiskin, which won a Youth Award.

2010 National winner Tallanstown was once again named the tidiest place in Co Louth, with Blackrock second and Knockbridge third.

Tallanstown jumped by four points on last year’s total to 317, with Blackrock also up four to 312 and Knockbridge up two to 311.

Dundalk gained three points to go to 306, with Drogheda also up three to 307.

Tallanstown and Carlingford to receive seven oak trees each to commemorate 1916

Tallanstown and Carlingford are set to receive seven oak trees each in remembrance of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of Independence in 1916.

The trees are being presented to all Tidy Towns winners since the competition’s inception in 1958 as part of the Government’s 1916 commemorations.

Sessile Oaks have been chosen as they are national symbols.

The announcement was made at yesterday’s Ploughing Championships in Co Laois by Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly with planting to begin next year.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys said the tree-planting initiative would leave a legacy in communities to remind them of the 1916 centenary commemorations.

Carlingford was the first Louth participant to win the overall award in 1988, with Tallanstown following suit in 2010.

This year’s results will be announced on Monday.

Brocante to take place in Market Square tomorrow

Louth Tidy Towns Together will host their annual Brocante, a continental style market selling good quality used goods and unwanted gifts, in the Market Square tomorrow.

The event runs from 11am to 4pm so be sure to pop along and grab yourself a bargain while also supporting the local tidy towns group.

Campaign launched to return the Castlebellingham Silhouettes

The building how it looked after the silhouettes were added to it

A campaign has been launched to return the silhouettes to Castlebellingham.

Talk of the Town recently featured an abandoned building in the village which had been brought to life by the Castlebellingham Tidy Towns committee who painted silhouettes of people from the past at dances on the derelict property.

However, complaints about the building were made soon after and the silhouettes were painted over.

Now a campaign has been set up for their return with a board with the words ‘bring back the Castlebellingham silhouettes” placed at the building and a Facebook page set up.

Old memories brought to life on Castlebellingham building

There’s been many a great dance in Castlebellingham down through the years and now those memories have been brought to life on a derelict building in the heart of the village.

The Castlebellingham Tidy Towns committee have created chatter for all those passing through the village by providing an innovative facelift to an abandonned building in recent weeks.

The local bus stop will now never be lifeless as the silhouettes of those who have passed through remain permanently on the building and those arriving and departing are waved welcome and safe journey by others within the building.

The committee are looking for ideas for the remaining two windows and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks to Sé Weston for the picture.

Tidy Towns judging gets underway on Monday

People around the county are reminded that judging commences on Monday for this year’s SuperValu Tidy Towns’ contest.

Clean ups have taken place in villages and communities around the county over the last few weeks but anything you can do to spruce up your area over the weekend would be most appreciated.

In 2010 Tallanstown won the overall award, the second time the honour has come to the county after Carlingford’s success in 1988.

Kilkenny City was last year’s overall winner.

Omeath Tidy Towns table quiz this Friday

The Omeath Tidy Towns committee will host a fundraising table quiz this Friday night at 8pm in the Granvue Hotel.

A table of five is €25 and all support for the event is welcomed.

The Phillips Perpetual Award will be up for grabs on the night while a raffle will also take place.

Date set for Tidy Towns’ table quiz

The Louth Tidy Towns’ Together group will hold their annual fundraising table quiz in the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday March 11^th at 8pm sharp.

A table of five costs €50 with a raffle on the night and attendance prizes for your nominated Tidy Towns’ group.

All support is most welcome.

Gold medal for Dundalk in Tidy Towns’ competition

Dundalk scooped a gold medal in this year’s Tidy Towns

Dundalk has scooped a gold medal in this year’s Tidy Towns awards.

There was also a gold for the county’s other major urban centre, Drogheda, while Blackrock and Tallanstown picked up silver medals. Knockbridge completed a good showing for the county with a bronze.

Kilkenny was named the country’s tidiest town when the awards were announced this morning.

Tallanstown, which won the national prize in 2010, was once again the county’s tidiest town with 313 points out of a total of 450. It was closely followed by Knockbridge (309), Blackrock (308), Drogheda (304) and Dundalk (303).

Monasterboice – a new entrant this year – was the untidiest of the areas surveyed in Louth, followed by Baltray.

The only area to lose points on last year was Dunleer, which dropped four points, while the biggest increases were recorded in Kilcurry (9), Louth (8) and Castlebellingham-Kilsaran (7)

Dundalk – whose score was unchanged from 12 months ago – fell down most on sustainable waste and resource management, where it scored just 16 points out of 50 and on its tidiness and litter control, where it scored 51 points out of 90.

Areas mentioned as being littered in the report included Wrighton’s Lane, Stapleton Court, Aghameen Park, the environs of O Fiaich College and the approach to Glenmuir FC.

The full report on the town can be read here while reports on each locality can also be found here.

The full list of scores for each area (out of a possible 450 marks) is listed below with the difference from last year beside it.

The format is locality/2014 score/difference from 2013 score.

Category A

• Annagassan 263 +3
• Grange 261 +5
• Greenore 285 +4
• Kilkerley 261 +2
• Philipstown 222 +6
• Reaghstown 298 +2
• Stabannon 275 +2

Category B

• Baltray 226 +2
• Castlebellingham-Kilsaran 275 +7
• Collon 275 +1
• Dromiskin 272 +4
• Kilcurry 252 +9
• Knockbridge 309 +1
• Louth 246 +8
• Omeath 251 +3
• Tallanstown 313 +1

Category C

• Carlingford 286 +2
• Clogherhead 258 +4
• Dunleer 269 -4
• Monasterboice 216 NEW
• Termonfeckin 231 +5
• Tullyallen 270 +6

Category D

• Ardee 299 +2
• Blackrock 308 +1

Category H

• Drogheda 304 +2
• Dundalk 303 =

Blackrock nominated for top tourism award

A view from Blackrock

Blackrock has been included on a shortlist of 15 towns and villages around the country being considered for the 2014 Tourism Towns Award – a competition aimed at recognising areas which go the extra mile to enhance their appeal to tourists.

Blackrock has been nominated in the ‘small town’ category, which will see it go up against the likes of Lismore and Ardmore in Waterford, Belmullet in Mayo, Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim, Portmagee in Kerry and the Cork trio of Glengarriff, Kinsale and Rosscarbery.

Kilkenny was last year’s overall winner and it is once again nominated in the ‘large town’ category along with Ennis, Cobh, Killarney, Westport and Trim.

Last year’s small town award went to Mulranny in Mayo.

The 15 towns will now be visited by a team of assessors who will look at how each town presents itself to visitors and tells its story. In particular, they will look for evidence of a high quality visitor experience and of involvement by the local community and businesses in delivering this experience. They will look at the quality of its attractions and sites of interest and how well the town promotes what they have to offer.

Paddy Mathews from Fáilte Ireland emphasised the important characteristics of a tourism town and the how the award scheme seeks to recognise them.

“These are towns that have already performed well in the Tidy Towns Competition in 2013, so we know that they are clean and well presented. Now we want to know how well they present themselves to their visitors.

“A great tourism town is one that provides visitors with an unforgettable experience. It is a town where the local businesses and the local community all contribute to shaping and delivering this experience. It also tells its story of its heritage and culture in an engaging way.”

Now in its third year, the award will continue to focus on how participating towns have developed their local area in the following key tourism areas:

• Sense of Place – How the town tells its own unique story to visitors, what’s special about it, and what distinguishes it from other towns.
• Local Involvement – How the local community works together to provide an authentic visitor experience.
• Tourism Products Available – What the town has to offer visitors.
• Development and promotion of the town – How the town takes a unified approach to marketing and developing the town into a “tourism town”.