DUNDALK WINS 10TH GOLD MEDAL
Dundalk has retained gold medal status in the SuperValu Tidy Towns competition winning the coveted award for the tenth time.
This is a great achievement for the town and a wonderful tribute to the late Willie Duffy who spearheaded the hard working voluntary committee for many years. The town gained 314 marks this year, an increase of five on 2016.
Gold medals were also awarded to Tallanstown, which was named as Louth’s tidiest town for the 23rd year in a row with 327 marks, Blackrock, pipped by two marks into second place as Highly Commended. Third placed Knockbridge was commended and awarded a bronze medal.
Other medal winners in the county were Drogheda with gold and Ardee with silver.
Louth also produced a number of Special Category Award Winners -with Stabannon winning for the Gum Litter Taskforce Award, Dunleer getting the prize for the Tree Project Award, Carlingford winning the Waste Prevention Award and Blackrock who were runners-up in the Sustainable Development Award.
The hard-working tidy towns committees were justly celebrating their success which results from on-going effort and constant planning to make sure that they increase marks year on year and meet with the new criteria for judging which has been introduced over the years.
Congratulating the winners, Deputy Declan Breathnach commented that it was ‘great to see the county so well represented.’
The results were a great achievement for the Wee County as this year’s Tidy Competition attracted a record 870 entries.
Birdhill, a village in Co Tipperary, was winning the overall award as well as tidiest village, at the awards ceremony in the Helix on Monday. Ennis in Co Clare took the prize for best large urban centre, Clonakilty, Co Cork, was named Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town and Westport, Co Mayo, which was named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town. Meanwhile Ennis in Co Clare was again declared Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre.